Mmt 2017 08 31

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Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967

MT.Times MORRIS August 31, 2017 Volume 50, Number 46 - $1.00

Hawks Win Opener

People Pleaser

At the Band Shell

The Hawks down the Hornets 13-7 in season’s football opener. B1

A Rockford woman’s sculpture of a bear wins first prize. A2

The Bootleg Flyers will return to the Mt. Morris Jamboree stage Friday night. A10

Still no word on Black Hawk By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com With another summer quickly drawing to a close, nothing has changed for the Black Hawk statue at Lowden State Park, near Oregon. The area’s most famous landmark remains in encased in black plastic with no apparent progress on efforts to restore it. “I do not have anything new available at this time, but I will keep you posted when I do,” wrote Ed Cross, A hayrack full of visitors returns from the pasture at Dietrich Ranch Saturday during the Mt. Morris Country Living Director of Communications for the Illinois Department Tour. Photo by Vinde Wells of Natural Resources, in an email. Cross’ answer was in response to an emailed question about when the work on the statue will resume. By Vinde Wells He did not reply to an vwells@oglecounty email asking what is holding news.com up the work, now that the A steady line of cars state budget has been passed. streamed down rural blacktop The state’s long-standing roads Saturday afternoon budget impasse side-tracked headed for the four farms some of the funds for the featured on the Mt. Morris statue’s repairs. Country Living Tour. State Rep. Tom Demmer An estimated 150 visitors (R-Rochelle) said in April toured the farms, all within that a $350,000 grant from four miles of Mt. Morris, to the Illinois Department of learn about traditional and Commerce and Economic specialty agriculture. The event was sponsored by Encore! Mt. Morris and the Mt. Morris Tourism Committee. The ins and outs of making maple syrup was the topic at A 15-year-old boy from Maple Lane Farm, owned by Mt. Morris was taken into Rob and Lynnette Hough and custody at Oregon High located on North Mt. Morris School Monday after he Road a half mile north of the was accused of making village. threatening comments. The Houghs and their two Oregon Police took the children have been tapping boy, an OHS student, to maple trees for in late winter Jerry and Cindy Kinsley, of Rockford, look at the ripe berries on an aronia bush the police station after they Saturday at BerryView Orchard during the Mt. Morris Country Living Tour. Photo by Turn to A3 Vinde Wells responded to a disorderly

Tour offers lessons on farming

Opportunity (DCEO) that was earmarked for the statue repairs couldn’t be released until the General Assembly passed budget legislation. Demmer could not be reached for comment by press time on Tuesday. The 50-foot statue, which is under the IDNR’s authority, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2009. The ravages of weather and time have taken a toll on the concrete monument, which was created by sculptor Laredo Taft in 1910 as a tribute to Native Americans. The statue stands on a 125-foot bluff overlooking the Rock River and draws thousands of visitors each year. It was unveiled and dedicated in 1911. Taft called his monument “The Eternal Indian,” but it has been known as Black Hawk from the start, in memory of the Sauk medicine man and warrior who frequented this area before his people were driven west in the 1830s. Over the years, despite numerous repair efforts, parts of the statue have crumbled and fallen off.

OHS student taken into custody Aug. 28 conduct call at the school at 1:45 p.m. The boy was later released to his mother’s custody with a referral to the Ogle County State’s Attorney’s Office with a petition for juvenile delinquency. The incident remains under investigation.

Pinecrest honored for perfect score on federal inspection By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Pinecrest Community officials and staff members were recognized last week for earning a perfect score in a federal inspection. At a ceremony attended by village officials and Pinecrest employees on Friday, Mt. Morris Village President Dan Elsasser presented Pinecrest Director Ferol Labash with a plaque on honoring the facility for its accomplishment. “This is just outstanding,” Elsasser said. “It’s quite a monumental task.” Labash said that when the facility had its first federal inspection last spring it was found to be in substantial compliance with federal nursing home regulations – that means not a single citation was issued. “I’m very proud to say our staff worked so hard we had zero citations,” she said. “It’s

quite an accomplishment.” The plaque reads, “The Village of Mt. Morris hereby recognizes Pinecrest Community for its ‘outstanding compliance’ with federal and state nursing home regulations.” A team of surveyors from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services regional office in Chicago spent four days in March at Pinecrest to conduct a comparative survey. The team observed resident care, conducted interviews with residents, family members and staff, and reviewed policies and procedures to ensure compliance with all federal standards of care for nursing homes. Federal surveys are a key CMS oversight tool in ensuring the adequacy of annual state surveys. Only five percent of nursing homes are surveyed by federal inspectors each year.

In This Week’s Edition...

That means that out of approximately 1,200 long term care facilities in Illinois, Pinecrest is one of approximately 60 Illinois nursing homes to receive a federal survey this year. Pinecrest Community and all licensed nursing homes in Illinois are inspected each year during an unannounced visit by a team of surveyors from the Illinois Department of Public Health. IDPH surveys are conducted to determine compliance with both state and federal nursing home regulations. This health survey is a significant component of the CMS Five Star Quality Rating. This rating includes staffing levels, and quality measures in addition to the health survey to determine a star rating from one to five stars. Pinecrest has held the highest 5-star rating from CMS for a number of years.

Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4 Library News, A3

Mt. Morris Village President Dan Elsasser presents Pinecrest Community Director Ferol Labash with a plaque Friday in recognition of Pinecrest’s perfect score in a federal inspection earlier this year. Applauding are Jolene LeClere, Administrator of Health Services, and Meg Unger, Director of Nursing. Photo by Vinde Wells

Pinecrest Community, which was started in Mt. Morris by the Church of the Brethren in 1893, is a notfor-profit continuing care retirement community . It has grown to a community that serves approximately 175 residents

Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3

Social News, A4 Sports, A10, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4

and employs nearly 200 staff. Pinecrest offers care at all levels including duplex homes for active seniors, independent living apartment homes, intermediate and skilled nursing care, specialized

memory care and short-term rehab following an illness, injury or surgery on both an inpatient and out-patient basis. For more information, visit the website at www. pinecrestcommunity.org or call 815-734-4103.

Deaths, B5 Reuben “Jim” Bolen Eugene C. Kitzmiller

Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com


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