Mmt 2018 01 11

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Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967

MT.Times MORRIS January 11, 2018 Volume 51, Number 13 - $1.00

Wrestlers Win

For the Horses

Learn at Lunch

The Hawk wrestling team wins the Polo Invitational. B1

A fundraising campaign to build a new horse barn has started. A6

Meet the City of Oregon’s new intern at the Chamber’s Lunch ‘n Learn on Jan. 16. A2

16-year-old is charged in shooting

No capital budget still holding up repairs

By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com

By Vinde Wells vwells@ogleocuntynews.com The state’s lack of a funding for capital projects means the a local landmark is still languishing under a wrapping of black plastic. The 107-year-old Black Hawk statue at Lowden State Park, near Oregon, is spending a fourth winter encased in plastic wrappings for protection from the elements, awaiting muchneeded repairs to its deteriorating surface. “There’s no capital budget yet — that’s what we’re waiting on,” IDNR Director of Communications Ed Cross said on Friday. “That’s the hold-up.” A $350,000 grant earmarked for repairs to the statue may not be funded by the state legislature any time soon. Hopes were high last summer that the grant, from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which has jurisdiction over the statue, would be part of the 2017-18 budget. The General Assembly ended up passing only an operational budget, leaving capital projects like the statue repairs out in the cold. State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon) offered a ray of hope early this week. “I’m continuing to work with IDNR and the Turn to A3

Lorado Taft’s Black Hawk Statue remains covered with black plastic. Photo by Earleen Hinton

A 16-year-old Mt. Morris boy is facing three felony charges and a misdemeanor after he accidentally shot a Mt. Morris man in the abdomen with a stolen semiautomatic .45-caliber handgun early Monday morning in Oregon. The shooting victim, Allen Hayenga, 20, is in the intensive care unit at KSB Hospital, Dixon, Oregon Police Chief Darin DeHaan said Tuesday. Ogle County State’s Attorney Eric Morrow said the juvenile was charged Tuesday morning in Ogle County Juvenile Court with aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony; possession of a stolen firearm, a Class 2 felony; reckless discharge of a firearm, a Class 4 felony; and possession of a firearm without a FOID card, a Class

A misdemeanor. He was detained at Morrow’s request and is being held at the Kane County juvenile detention facility in St. Charles. He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 18. DeHaan said the shooting took place at 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 8 in an apartment at 408 1/2 W. Washington St., above H&R Block, across the street from the Ogle County Courthouse. DeHaan said the teen was displaying the handgun when it fired. A resident of the apartment called 911, and Hayenga was transported to KSB by Oregon ambulance. According to a press release issued Monday by DeHaan, the gun may have been taken from a vehicle in Oregon within the last year. Its owner is being sought, and anyone with information is asked to call the Oregon Police Department at 815732-2803.

Studio marks birthday by creating scholarships By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com A Mt. Morris business is celebrating its third birthday by raising money to bring music to children. Aireloom Music Studio, situated in the third floor of the Old Sandstone building, 122 S. Wesley Ave., is coming up on three years strong, and owner and teacher Mary Ley said the feeling is a mix of emotions. “It’s scary, exciting, and a conflicting mess of emotional impulses,” she said, laughing. Aireloom officially began Feb. 1, 2015, when two friends with experience in all sorts of instruments and a love for music got together and decided to teach. Ley, along with friend and then-partner Kathryn Stauffer, started out on Mud Creek Road, near Town & Country Lanes. “It started slow at first, but we were amazed at how fast it took off — at how many kids and adults wanted to take lessons,” she said. Ley said she was impressed at the span of students; it wasn’t just children taking lessons, but retirees, as well. Aireloom’s current youngest student is 3 years old. Stauffer left in September of 2016, due to health issues, and Ley said she immediately felt her loss. “She took care of all the

Celebration Planned Aireloom Music Studio & Friends will put on a musical variety show, “A Little Bit of Everything” on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. at Pinecrest Grove Community Theatre. Proceeds of the event will go to a newly established scholarship fund for students who can’t afford to take music lessons. things I’m not good and don’t like to do — basically, anything administrative, paperwork, marketing — and it got to be a lot for me,” Ley said. While picking up her son from a teaching lesson with Ley, Carrie Berg remarked that Ley looked too stressed out. “You’ve got too much going on,” said Berg. “You need to meet my friend Liz.” Enter Liz Gray, who currently describes herself as “doing a little bit of everything,” but handles marketing and advertisement, social media outreach, office management, and assistant to Ley. “And she keeps me from getting myself into trouble,” Ley added, laughing. Gray officially started in March, and has been with Aireloom ever since, including the move to Old

In This Week’s Edition...

Mary Ley teaches harp to Dawson Berg, 9, of Mt. Morris, at Aireloom’s third-floor teaching studio inside Old Sandstone. Ley has taught people from age 3 to 80, in the three years Aireloom has operated. Photo by Zach Arbogast

Sandstone. After complications arose with the loan and building situation on Mud Creek Road, Ley said she didn’t feel comfortable with locational uncertainties when heavy, expensive equipment and teachers are concerns. Being a member of Encore! Mt. Morris, she was referred to Old Sandstone. By November, they were moved in. “We looked at the third floor, and it was very

Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A3

attractive, we received tremendous support, and honestly, we were excited at the idea of bringing music back to the campus,” said Ley. “It originally was for arts, music, ministry, and law, and to be back in the campus, bringing it to life again, has been fantastic.” She said the business has been even busier since the move. It’s easy to see why, with Aireloom offering lessons for over 30 instruments from

Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4

traditional guitar, piano, and drums, to theremin, piccolo, and great highland bagpipes. Services like piano tuning, audio recording, consignment, and instrument repair are also available, and they tie into Ley’s passion and mission statement she repeats frequently: “to put an instrument in every hand, and music in every heart.” That, she said, is why they are moving forward with an idea they hope to make a tradition: a variety show to

Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Senior Center News, A3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2, B3

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

fund scholarships. “We would get emails and Facebook private messages asking us if we have scholarships or special discounts for people on assisted living,” said Ley. “After a while, you just say ‘we need to do something, it’s about the music.’” Enter “A Little Bit of Everything,” a celebration of the many “oddball” holidays in February, as well as an

Deaths, B5 Howard R. Heid Richard A. Zilly

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