Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS March 9, 2017 Volume 50, Number 21 - $1.00
Ready To Hit
Spring Ahead
OHS Musical
Oregon High School’s softball team has been busy preparing for the season. B1
Set your clocks one hour ahead at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 12.
Oregon High School students will present “Little Shop of Horrors”. A9
Sixth Street property was purchased with jail in mind By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Ogle County officials said last week that building a new county jail on South Sixth Street in Oregon has been part of the long range plan for several years. Kim Gouker told a crowd of more than 30 in Forreston that the Sixth Street property was purchased with the intention that a jail would go there at some point. The county board purchased and then razed five houses on east half of the 100 block of South Sixth Street in 2006, after completing the new judicial center in Fifth Street the previous year. The purchase was made, Gouker said, “with the idea of possibly building the jail there. We wanted to maintain the efficiency we had already built in there [in the judicial center].” Gouker, Long Range Planning Committee Chairman Don Griffin, and Sheriff Brian VanVickle made the fifth of seven presentations about the proposed jail March 2 at the Forreston Public Library. The final two presentations were scheduled for March 7 in Mt. Morris and March 9 at the Oregon Coliseum. Gouker recounted the history of the county’s long range planning which has included several building and remodeling projects.
This machine shed, located at 4778 South Daysville Road was destroyed by the tornado. Photo by Earleen Hinton
County Board Chairman Kim Gouker answers a question March 2. Photo by Vinde Wells
The final presentation about the proposed new Ogle County Jail will be held on Thursday, March 9 at 7 p.m. at the Oregon Coliseum. The Long Range Planning Committee was formed in 1998, he said, to come up with an organized approach to capital projects. “We came up with a fivestep plan that we took to the board in 2000,” said Gouker, who chaired the first Long Range Planning Committee. The county board earmarked the money from Turn to A3
Students help clean up debris By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com A bus full of high school students from Thome School in Rock Falls rolled into Oregon last week to help a pair of neighbors whose farms were in the path of the Feb. 28 tornado. The twister tore through the Janssen and Macauley farms at 4779 and 4778 S. Daysville Rd., respectively, around 5 p.m., causing several hundred thousand dollars in damage. “This place looked like a war zone,” said Sean Janssen, 49. Troops in the form of 20 high school students, two teachers, a teacher’s aide, a social worker, and a parent arrived shortly after 9 a.m. March 3 to help. Before the morning was over, they would haul away more than 100 buckets of debris. The debris that covered the Janssens’ 10 and a half acres included the Macauleys’ destroyed machine shed and garage, shards of glass from several windows, tin shingles, and fallen limbs and splinters from more than 50 winddecimated trees. Thanks to the direction of the EF1 twister, the Macauleys did not have nearly as much in the way of debris. “We went ahead and gave most of it to our neighbors,” joked Roger Macauley, 74. Jodi Orcutt, Janssen’s cousin and a teacher with Bi-County Special Education Cooperative, which oversees Thome, saw pictures on Facebook of the damage.
Jarid Wilson, left, and Klaytin Reynolds haul off a log while cleaning up last Friday southeast of Oregon. Photo by Alex T. Paschal, Sauk Valley Media
“We just started learning about tornadoes in school this week,” said Orcutt, 46. “We learned about tornado safety, held tornado drills, and after seeing the pictures, we thought this would be a great opportunity for the students to see what damage tornadoes leave behind in person.” Thome is a school for kids with issues that make it difficult to learn in a mainstream classroom. Richard Melcher, a high school teacher at Thome, said that the trip filled his students with a sense of compassion. “These kids are coming from backgrounds filled with emotional challenges, and they’re still coming together to serve others,” said Melcher, 47. “There’s strength in numbers, and seeing them band together as a team is an incredible feeling.” The students themselves echoed the sentiments shared by their teachers. Madison Manning, a 17 year-old senior, said being able to serve people who truly need help humbled her, and taught her not to take what she has for granted. Sophomore Jared Wilson reflected on how fragile everything seems when
natural disaster strikes. “We’re actually seeing how quickly something can be taken away; this really creates a sense of value,” said Wilson, 16. How quickly, indeed; Janssen said the entire ordeal lasted no more than a couple of minutes. “It’s like they always say; you hear the sound of a train coming through, and that means it’s already too late,” Janssen said. “It couldn’t have lasted more than two minutes, but it was the scariest two minutes imaginable.” Both Janssen and Macauley were thankful for the help and support they’ve received from the community, including food, water, and emotional support. “I’ve never been on this end of the charity train before,” Janssen said. “It’s going to take me some time to make out a list of everyone who’s helped us. It’s humbling.” Macauley agreed. “My garage has been full, lately, of friends, relatives, and helpers from around the community. It’s unreal; I nearly cry thinking about it, and I don’t ever cry,” he said.
Tornado one of six in northern Illinois
Mt. Morris Senior Center Director Bobbi Jo Brandon makes biscuits Monday morning for the community breakfast. More than 100 people were served. Photo by Vinde Wells
In This Week’s Edition...
The tornado that damaged farms southeast of Oregon Feb. 28 was one of three in the area confirmed by the National Weather Service (NWS) last Friday. All three registered as EF1s, moderate tornadoes with wind speeds of 86 to 110 mph, according to information gathered by agency surveyors and posted at weather.gov. The other two did damage in Whiteside and Bureau Counties. They were among at least
Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
six that raced across northern Illinois, including the two strongest, which were EF3s. One barreled through Naplate and Ottawa at 155 mph, killing an Ottawa man and his son-in-law who were doing yard work, while the other tore through Washburn, northeast of Peoria, and traveled on into LaSalle County. An EF3 tornado has winds between 136 and 165 mph. The sixth also was reported in LaSalle County, near the border with Livingston
Oregon Library, B3 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4
County. According to the NWS, a 50-yard-wide system hit Oregon near South Daysville and South Watertown Roads between 5:07 and 5:09 p.m. It traveled 1.5 miles, with winds reaching between 90 and 95 mph. It was followed by straight line winds of up to 80 mph that caused additional tree and minor roof damage. The storm uprooted or sheared off trees and felled utility poles before heading northeast to Chana, where more trees were damaged,
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Ogle County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Danny White said last week. One farm – Angus breeder Roger Macauley’s at 4778 S. Daysville – lost an outbuilding and sustained other “substantial” damage, but no one was hurt, he said. Across the road, at the home of Sean Janssen the damage included more than 50 trees were destroyed, and buildings were damaged. Debris from Macauley’s farm was also dumped across Janssen’s property.
Deaths, B4 Elwin (Bill) W. Janssen, Robert A. Stouffer
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com