Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS January 25, 2018 Volume 51, Number 15 - $1.00
On to State!
Tire Dumping
Spelling Bees
OHS bowler Austin Strite advances to the state bowling tournament. B1
A Polo man is arrested for dumping tires on the river. A8
Two Oregon schools hold their annual spelling bees. A2, A8
Late motion could delay Mongan trial Trial tentatively set for Feb. 14 By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
A small plane sits on the ice after hitting a power line and crashing on the Saturday afternoon. Photo by Earleen Hinton
A possible late motion could mean a delay in the start of the trial of an Oregon man charged in a fatal boating crash. Special prosecutor David Rock River just west of Grand Detour Neal, from the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s office, told Judge John Redington Monday that he may be filing a motion in response to a yetto-be-received report from a defense expert in the case against Marc Mongan, 47. Mongan has been charged with one count of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class 2 felony; three counts of reckless homicide, all class 3 felonies; and three counts of reckless Which investigating agency should conduct, all Class 4 felonies, take charge in an emergency situation in the death of Megan Wells, can be a little confusing sometimes. 31, Rockford. Especially when a plane crashes His trial is set to begin Feb. onto the ice-covered Rock River as 14. happened on Saturday afternoon. Wells was killed on June Ogle County Sheriff Brian 24, 2016 on the Rock River VanVickle, who was on the scene, said three miles north of Oregon the crash took place very close to the when a johnboat Mongan dividing line between Ogle and Lee was operating struck her as Counties. it went over the back of the That line runs down the middle of pontoon boat she was riding the river. in, throwing her overboard. “Where it happened there are two islands, one of them is in Lee County and one is in Ogle,” he said. Lee County 911 got the first call and that sheriff’s department took charge. “It was closer to their island, and they called the state police,” VanVickle said.
Plane crashes on to frozen Rock River, minor injuries y Earleen Hinton B ehinton@oglecountynews.com A handful of local residents were outdoors taking advantage of the springlike weather Saturday afternoon when their chores were interrupted by a plane crash. Illinois State Police responded to a call at about 12:50 p.m. that a small plane had landed or crashed in the Rock River near Grand Detour. The pilot, David R. Manske, and his passenger, Jamie K. Nadowski, 60, both of Machesney Park, were taken to a hospital, but luckily escaped serious injury. No information on their flight plan was available. Jim Ross was working in his garage just north of the crash site when he heard the plane fly over his home around 12:40 p.m. “I was in the garage and I heard a plane flying by. Then there was a big noise – and silence,” Ross said. “Then a neighbor came by and said a plane was on the ice and to call 911. He had heard it too and drove over and saw it on the
ice.” Ross walked south a few yards where he saw the pilot exit the plane and walk around a bit. Kelley Snyder, who lives just a house down from Ross, and almost directly across from where the plane came to rest, also heard a loud bang, but thought it was just a vehicle backfiring. “I heard a pop, pop and I thought it was just a Jeep or truck backfiring. I went outside a few minutes later and started playing with our dogs and tossing them balls down the hill,” Snyder said. “When I walked down our hill to get one of the balls I saw the plane and at first I was, ‘Oh no, a plane crashed,’ and my first thought was that if it started to sink it was pretty shallow there. Snyder said she then saw the pilot. “I yelled and asked if he was all right and he waved his arms,” she said. Snyder’s son Dax, 12, was inside his family’s house and also heard a “snapping” noise. “I think that was when they hit the Turn to B3
Crash almost on Ogle line
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Attorneys on both sides asked the Ogle County Board of Review last week for more time to negotiate an agreement on what should be the value of the former Quad Graphics printing plant in Mt. Morris. After a brief hearing Jan. 19 before the BOR, the two sides remained far apart, and neither agreed with the assessed value of $895,912 set by Ogle County Supervisor of Assessments Jim Harrison last fall. The assessed value, which is one-third of the fair market value, translates to a fair market value of $2.68 million for the sprawling plant, which was shuttered in 2011 after providing jobs and tax Three onlookers watch from the bank as the plane that crashed on the Rock River just west of Grand Detour is revenue for the community for 113 years. pulled to the shore by a winch hooked to a tow truck on Saturday night. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A3
Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A6 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B5
Defense attorney Russ Crull, Rochelle, said he expected to receive the expert’s report as early as Wednesday. Neal said once he has read the report, he may need to file motions in response to it, and asked for another hearing date before trial begins. Monday’s hearing was supposed to have been the final pre-trial. Redington set another hearing for Tuesday, Jan. 30, but pointed out that jury summons notices must go out this week for the trial to begin as scheduled. He told Crull that he wants a copy of the expert’s report no later than 9 a.m. Thursday. Neal said after the hearing that he will need time to evaluate what the expert has to say, and that could delay the trial. The prosecution presented three motions during the Turn to A2
BOR postpones decision on QG Attorneys have until Jan. 30 to negotiate value
In This Week’s Edition...
Marc Mongan
Senior Center News, A3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Mt. Morris Business Park LLC, Downey, California, which has no connection to the Village of Mt. Morris, bought the property from Quad Graphics in 2015 and have filed annual tax appeals since then. Company officials are appealing the assessment on only the largest of the three parcels that make up the plant site. The owner’s attorney, Mary Donners of Ryan Law LLC in Chicago, said a recent appraisal of the parcel set its fair market value at $400,000. However, attorney Michael Foley of Foley & Foley in Chicago, who represented the Oregon School District and the Village of Mt. Morris, disagreed. He argued that the value should be $3.3 million because that’s the sale price the owners have listed it for in online advertising. “The listing means nothing,” Donners objected. BOR chairman Joe Yockey
Deaths, B4 George L. Martens
Turn to A2