Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS December 15, 2016 Volume 50, Number 9 - $1.00
Tournament Win The Lady Hawks earned a win over Polo at the Polo Holiday Tournament. B1
Recognition
Volunteer
The Ogle County Fair Board named a volunteer of the year. B1
Families are encouraged to volunteer together throughout the year. B3
Talent was on display at Open Program Fair By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com Oregon High School Open Program students displayed nearly 20 projects aimed at both contributing to the community and helping themselves grow as leaders at last week’s Open Program Fair. Depending on who you ask, getting youth involved in community service has ranged from a mild struggle to nearly impossible. However, the OHS Open Program teaches the students not only to serve the community, but to spearhead the projects themselves. The Open Program hosted an open house event on Dec. 7, where 21 sophomores displayed 17 projects that would put their mathematics, communication, problemsolving, and planning skills to the test - all in service to the public. For Hannah Donaldson, this means taking the reins in hosting a Special Olympics event at the high school. She plans on working with the special education departments within the Oregon School District, the athletic department, and possibly trying to reach out
to the Village of Progress. Glorie O’Connell is taking the issue of hunger into her hands by creating a schoolwide food pantry. She’s also trying to host a “Homework Hub” where students can meet in the school to work on homework, get something to eat, and be involved with each other. While some students went straight toward charity and service, others used the creative juices to target the spirit of fun and competition as fund raisers. Dakota Stone plans on hosting a “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U” tournament, where the proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Taylor Hultquist attracts the support of her peers through organizing a beloved high school tradition that has become extinct in many area: the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Proceeds from the dance would go towards helping fund the Open Program, and she has even paired with O’Connell’s food pantry project; students could mitigate the dance entry fees by donating food items to the pantry. Don’t think the veterans Turn to A2
Marissa Henry helps push her aspirations of being an EMT forward with her Oregon community blood drive project. Henry is collaborating with the Rock River Valley Blood Center for her Open Program project. Photo by Zach Arbogast
It’s time to file election petitions By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Candidates running for office in the April 4 Consolidated Election have just a few days to get their petitions filed. The filing period for signed petitions and the related paperwork started Dec. 12 and runs through Monday, Dec. 19. Offices on the April ballot include cities and villages, fire protection districts, forest preserve districts, public library districts, multi-
township assessor, park districts, school districts, community college districts, and townships. The election is nonpartisan, which means candidates do not declare an affiliation with a political party. The completed petitions must contain a specified number of signatures of registered voters residing in the area the elected office in question serves. The number of signatures needed is based on how many people voted in the previous election.
In This Week’s Edition...
Madrigal Dinner The OHS Madrigal Choir enjoy a short respite from performing while the guests are served dinner. The annual Madrigal dinner and performance was held Dec. 9 and 10 at the Brubaker Center at Stronghold Castle, Oregon. Choir Director Katie Sheridan called the students who participated “amazing.” Photo by Zach Arbogast
Highway Department ready to plow By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Ogle County Highway Department was wellprepared for the one-two wintry punch that came in early December. A storm on Dec. 4 dropped six to eight inches of wet snow on the county and was followed less than a week later by another snowstorm that began in the midafternoon of Dec. 10 and continued for the next 28 hours. County engineer Jeremy Ciesiel said he has stored plenty of salt in readiness for whatever Mother Nature deals out. “We started the season with two full bins, so we were ready,” he said. “The last two weekends have made a dent in it, but we are prepared to order more as we need it.” He said he was thankful, however, that the most recent snowfall proved to be less than the 10 to 15 inches predicted. The snowfall Dec. 10-11 varied across the county, with eight inches in the north, diminishing to the south. “We had more issues with blowing snow in the southwest part of the county,” Ciesiel said. The storms coming on the weekend have posed a challenge for snowplow drivers.
The Ogle County Highway Department was out Saturday evening plowing snow at the start of the weekend storm. Photo by Chris Johnson
“They’ve already worked all week, and then they get called in again,” he said. “It can be a long week for the guys. These storms have been coming every six and a half to seven days,” The county is responsible for plowing 270 miles of roads with 11 snowplows, two graders, and 13 drivers to man them. Last weekend Ciesiel said they went out Saturday
afternoon and evening to treat the roads and clear the snow that began falling around 2:30 p.m. They returned to do it all over again early Sunday morning, then Sunday afternoon, and finally early Monday morning. “We try not to go more than 12 hours at a time,” Ciesiel said. “But sometimes we have to do 12 to 14-hour shifts.”
Based on the weather forecast, the crew is planning on another weekend on the roads. Forecasts on Tuesday called for another storm with snow and possibly freezing rain to begin Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday. The amount of precipitation and exact track of the storm have not yet been determined.
Board to discuss Sullivan’s tax abatement A tax abatement, a new residential parking zone, and insurance coverage were among the items on the agenda for the Dec. 13 Mt. Morris Village Board meeting. A real estate tax abatement that’s part of the economic incentive agreement with Sullivan’s Foods was listed for discussion and possible action.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
A 100 percent abatement of the village’s portion of real estate taxes on the property for 13 years was one of the incentives offered in 2014 to convince grocery store officials to keep the store in the village. Subsequent to reaching an agreement, Sullivan officials built a new store on Ill. 64 on the same location where the
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B5
former M&M Super Mart had been. The board was also scheduled to discuss a proposed ordinance for residential only parking on the south side of the 400 block of East Front Street. The parking restriction was requested Nov. 22 by former village president Steve Mongan who lives at 407 E.
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Front St. The board was also slated to hear and discuss a presentation on village insurance coverage from Eric Little of the Illinois Municipal League Risk Management Association. Coverage of the village board meeting will appear in the Dec. 22 issue of the Mt. Morris Times.
Death, B4 Wilborn D. Reagan