Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS November 16, 2017 Volume 51, Number 5 - $1.00
Finch Signs
Business Tour
Candlelight Walk
OHS volleyball player Gylian Finch will play for the Mocs next year. B1
Japanese businessmen check out what Rochelle has to offer. A7
Get a headstart on Christmas with bargains, music, and Santa in Oregon Nov. 25. A6
300 turn out to remember firefighter
Council takes no action on 6th Street
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
At least 300 people turned out Sunday evening for to honor a young Leaf River firefighter who died when his family’s home was destroyed in a fire early Friday morning. Greg Wood, 19, was remembered at a candlelight vigil by the firefighters from departments across northern Illinois, as well as family, friends, and local residents, who filled the front driveway at the Leaf River Fire Station. Wood was pronounced Greg Wood dead at the scene of the 12:40 a.m. fire at 209 W. Second St., Leaf River, just a block from the fire station. Two members of his family remain hospitalized for treatment of serious injuries suffered in the fire. His father, Marcus Wood, 43, who is the deputy chief of the Leaf River Fire Department, was listed in fair condition Tuesday in the burn unit at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, and his younger brother Travis, 16, a cadet firefighter, is in good condition at Mercyhealth Hospital, Rockford. His mother Nicole, an EMT on the department, was transported by ambulance to Mercyhealth, where she was treated and released. The family’s dog also perished in the blaze. Fire Chief Steve Shelton said Monday morning that the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigation, the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department are conducting the investigation. Investigators said the fire is not considered suspicious. Shelton, who lives across the street from the Wood home, said he was awakened at about 12:40 a.m. on Friday when members of the Wood family pounded on his door for help. At that point, he said, the entire front of the twostory frame house was in flames. He said he and his son Aaron, also a firefighter, immediately went to the fire station. When they arrived back on the scene with a firetruck, the house was totally engulfed. “Basically there were flames coming from every
Although the Oregon City Council took no action Tuesday on an agenda item concerning the closing of a block of South Sixth Street, local residents had plenty to say. The council met in closed session for 25 minutes to discuss an intergovernmental agreement with Ogle County concerning the 100 block of The crowd at a vigil Sunday evening hold their candles high in tribute to Greg Wood. Photo by South Sixth. The county board has Vinde Wells proposed building a new county jail on property it owns there. They requested that the city council close the block to allow the new jail to be connected to the existing judicial center across the street. Anne Jones told the board that she expected the council would take action to close the street, which she described as “the death knell for Sixth Street.” “Think about five years from now,” she said. “You’re going to think ‘what have we done?’” She said the property the county owns on Pines Road Turn to A2
Officers from the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Investigations look over the house where Leaf River firefighter Greg Wood, 19, died in a fire early Friday morning. Photo by Vinde Wells
Forreston teen dies in crash
window of the house,” he said. Fifteen area fire departments responded with mutual aid. This is the first time the Leaf River Fire Department has suffered the loss of a firefighter in a fire, Shelton said, and the entire department
is devastated. A Forreston teenager died “I’m at a loss for words,” Shelton said. “He was a fine young man. He cared about the community early Monday morning in a single vehicle crash in Carroll and was there when we needed him.” County. Turn to A3 Drew Crase, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash approximately a half mile north of the intersection of Ill. 72 and Ill. 73, about four miles north of Lanark. Carroll County Sheriff Jeff Doran said a car driven by Crase was southbound on Ill. 73 when it travelled off the east side of the road and into a ditch where it struck a driveway culvert causing it to become airborne. The car came to rest upside down in a pond on the south side of the driveway. Crase was the car’s only occupant. The crash was reported at 12:40 a.m. The crash remains under investigation. Assisting the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department at the scene were the Carroll County Coroner, Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, Forreston Police Department, Shannon Fire Department, David L. Rahn student Gracie Zuniga shakes hands with veteran Jack Tofari, Navy Lanark Fire Department, and 1962-1966. After asking questions to guest speaker Dr. James Cole, the students the Byron Fire Department walked down the line and paid respects to each veteran sitting in attendance. Photo dive team.
DLR Junior High students salute veterans By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com David L. Rahn Junior High took some time off from the classrooms to pay tribute to America’s heroes on Veteran’s Day. Each year, DLR hosts a Veteran’s Day Program, honoring the brave men and women who served the country with songs, poetry, and personal recognition. The Mt. Morris Boy Scouts kicked off the patriotic-themed day with the presentation of the flag and leading the packed auditorium in the Pledge of Allegiance, followed closely behind by the DLR choir singing “The Star Spangled Banner,” directed by Katie Sheridan. Original poems were read by the language arts classes of Logan Cann and Ranae
Leamanzcyk, the DLR band, directed by Miles Beske, performed “Eternal Father Strong to Save” and the “Marches of the Armed Forces” medley, and President Donald Trump’s Veteran’s Day Proclamation was read. The main attraction for the day was guest veteran speaker Dr. James Cole, a surgeon with Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Rockford. Commissioned in 1988, Cole served as an active duty physician and surgeon, paratrooper and military diver, and a member of Joint Special Operations Command in Virginia, California, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Cole left active duty in 2000, but reentered following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on
Turn to A2 by Zach Arbogast
In This Week’s Edition...
Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
Library News, A3 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3-B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Deaths, B4 John A. Axelson, Elizabeth J. Deuth, Pete M. Dinsmoor, Ronald Erdman
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com