Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS December 28, 2017 Volume 51, Number 11 - $1.00
Fourth Place
New Laws
The Lady Hawks take fourth place at the Polo Christmas Basketball Classic. B1
More than 200 new state laws go into effect on Jan. 1. A7
IDOT decision on street closure several weeks off City council, county board voted last week to close portion of street By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The transfer of a block of an Oregon street from the city to the county will not become final for at least several weeks. Both the Ogle County Board and the Oregon City Council approved an intergovernmental agency agreement on Dec. 21 that transfers jurisdiction over the 100 block of South Sixth Street in Oregon from the city to the county, which means the county board can move forward with its plans to close the block and connect a proposed new jail to the existing judicial center across the street. However, the transfer won’t be official until the Illinois Department of Transportation gives it the nod. Ogle County Engineer Jeremy Ciesel said it will be several weeks — after they receive the paperwork — until IDOT officials make their decision. “They told me it would be at least three weeks, and they said it could be longer,” Ciesel said Tuesday. Optimistically, that puts the decision into February. Preliminary plans call for the breaking ground for the new 180-bed jail, with an estimated price tag of $28 million, in the fall of 2018. Ciesel said according to state statutes, IDOT must approve all jurisdictional transfers of streets.
This artist rendering shows the proposed jail on South Sixth Street in Oregon. This view is from Washington Street looking south. Photo supplied
With the intergovernmental agency agreement now approved by both parties, the next step, he said, is for the city council to pass an ordinance and the county board to adopt a resolution approving the transfer. Those approvals, along with other documents, must then be sent to IDOT. The city council could vote as early as Tuesday, Jan. 9, and the county board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
As part of the intergovernmental agreement, the county will pay for street improvements near the courthouse, judicial center, and new jail, including repaving Jefferson Street from Fourth to Sixth Street, Fifth Street from Washington to Jefferson, and Sixth Street south to Madison, and replacing curbs, gutters, and sidewalks in those blocks. County board chairman Kim Gouker, of Byron, said the Turn to A2
Woman is hurt in accident with Ogle squad car A Rochelle woman was injured on Christmas day when the car she was driving collided with an Ogle County Sheriff’s Department squad car. The Illinois State Police investigated the crash which
occurred at 3:29 p.m. at the intersection of Ill. 251 and Flagg Road in Rochelle. State police said the squad car driven by Deputy Nic Anaya, 37, of Rochelle, was traveling southbound on Ill. 251 approaching Flagg
Road with emergency lights and siren activated, just as a car driven by Jennifer A. Petersen, 39, of Rochelle, was traveling westbound on Flagg Road approaching Ill. 251. The vehicles collided in
the intersection. Petersen was transported by Rochelle Fire Department ambulance to Rochelle Community Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Anaya refused medical
treatment at the scene. Sheriff Brian VanVickle said Anaya was responding to a call when the crash occurred, and other vehicles in the vicinity had yielded to his siren and lights. The squad car was totaled.
The crash remains under investigation. ISP was assisted on the scene by the Rochelle Police Department, Rochelle Fire Department, and Ogle County Sheriff’s Department.
New center greets visitors at Grasslands Panels showcase the prairie and its inhabitants By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Visitors can better explore and understand the range of habitats at The Nature Conservancy’s Nachusa Grasslands, thanks to a brand new Visitors Center. A short walk up a gentle hill takes visitors to the new pavilion, at 2075 S. Lowden Rd., which features exhibits that tell the story of the Grasslands and its recently acquired bison herd. “People will be able to come and get a great sense of the prairie and maybe get a look at the bison and other wildlife,” said Restoration Ecologist Cody Considine. Started almost three decades ago, with less than 300 acres of partially overgrazed pastures, the Nachusa Grasslands has grown to more than 3,000 acres of native prairie plants and wildlife.
Located on Lowden Road on the Ogle-Lee County line, the grasslands has been restored as a native prairie largely through the efforts of volunteers who remove nonnative plants and gather and sow the seeds of desirable wildflowers, bushes, and grasses. Owned by The Nature Conservancy, the grasslands is the home of more than 700 native prairie plant species as well as many important birds, insects, and reptiles. The Nature Conservancy has gradually recreated a vision of 1800 when Illinois was a mosaic of prairie, savanna and wetlands. Bison were added as the completing component in 2014, and the herd has expanded with new calves born each year since then. “It’s been incredibly successful, and we’ve been astonished at the local support,” Considine said. The Visitors Center is especially suited to school groups who will now be able to take self-guided tours of the Grasslands, he said. The pavilion features interpretive panels on all aspects of the prairie. Turn to B3
In This Week’s Edition...
Birth, A4 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
The new visitor center at the Nachusa Grasslands is open to the public. Self-guided panels tell visitors about the prairie and its inhabitants. Photos by Earleen Hinton
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Pine Creek News, A3 Public Voice, A7
Property Transfers, B5 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B5 Earl Jr. Noffsinger Debbie L. Taft