Mt. Morris Times / oglecountynews.com • Friday, Jul 9, 2021
MT. MORRIS BEAT
REGIONAL NEWS 2 MT. MORRIS TIMES MT. MORRIS TIMES oglecountynews.com ShawLocal.com OFFICE 1113-115 Peoria Ave. Dixon, IL 61021 (815) 732-6166 ext. 2592 Fax: (815) 284-2078 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday SUBSCRIPTIONS $39 in Ogle County, and $52 outside Ogle County. Single-copy price is $1 To subscribe, make a payment or discuss your delivery, call 815-632-2520 Monday-Friday or send an e-mail to subscriptions@ oglecountynews.com. You also can subscribe online by going to oglecountynews.com and clicking on Subscribe. CLASSIFIED SALES 815-220-6942 apicco@shawmedia.com OBITUARIES 815-632-2534 phartman@shawmedia.com Deadline for obituaries is 2 p.m. Tuesday for Friday’s edition SEND NEWS news@oglecountynews.com Publisher Jennifer Heintzelman 815-632-2502 jheintzelman@shawmedia.com General Manager Earleen Hinton 815-632-2591 ehinton@shawmedia.com News 815-632-2591 ehinton@shawmedia.com Advertising Sales Patty Bridgeman 815-632-2555 pbridgeman@ shawmedia.com Mt. Morris Times, Ogle County News and oglecountynews.com are a division of Shaw Media. Ogle County Newspapers also prints the Mt. Morris Times, Oregon Republican Reporter, and Polo’s Tri-County Press. The MT. MORRIS TIMES (USPS No. 365-440) is published weekly by B.F. Shaw Printing Co., Shaw Media. Periodical postage paid at Mt. Morris, Illinois. POSTMASTER Send address changes to MT. MORRIS TIMES, P.O. Box 8, Oregon, IL 61061. Phone 815-732-6166, ext. 2516. All rights reserved. Copyright 2021
15-year-old Sterling boy with loaded gun arrested at Petunia Festival BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@shawmedia.com
A 15-year-old Sterling boy was arrested Sunday night with a loaded handgun after police received “a credible threat of an ‘active shooter’ on the Peoria Avenue Bridge during the fireworks,” they said in a news release early Monday morning. The information was received around 9 p.m. from a group of juveniles who said the boy “flashed” the revolver, Lt. Brad Sibley said. They gave a description of the teen, who was found a short time later. In the chaos of the initial investigation, there was some talk that there might be other armed subjects, Sibley said. Police cleared the bridge of all spectators “out of an abundance of caution,“ the release said. “We decided if we clear the bridge, they’re going to know that we know, so maybe that will deter them from doing anything,” Sibley said. In the end, though, no other suspects were found, and police believe the boy was the only one involved, Sibley said. By law, he must have a hearing within 48 hours, and because July 5 was a holiday, Monday did not count. The Lee County Sheriff’s Department and the Illinois State Police were called in to assist. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Dixon Police at 815288-4411 or Lee/Ogle Crimestoppers at 888-228-4488. Callers do not have to leave their names and could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
ABOVE: Squad cars park at across from the carnival Sunday night in DIxon as officer search for suspects. A 15-year-old Sterling boy was arrested with a loaded handgun after police received “a credible threat of an ‘active shooter’ on the Peoria Avenue Bridge during the fireworks. LEFT: Upon hearing about the gun-related incident, Dixon artist and activist Mark Stach took to the corner to call for peace. “This needs to stop,” he said, “I’m just so sick of this.” Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com
BUSINESS NEWS Alexa Zoellner joins newspaper staff
Alexa Zoellner has joined the staff of Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media. Zoellner, 30, is a native of Cary, Illinois, but is looking forward to learning more about Ogle County and its residents as she becomes one of them. She is familiar with the Rock River, which runs through Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, where she previously worked at the Daily Jefferson County Union as a staff reporter. Her bylines also can be found in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, based in Traverse City, Michigan. One of her Daily Union articles, “Good Samaritan risks high waters to save drowning goat”, won an honorable mention in Division B in the 2018
Wisconsin Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest. The story was about a goat that fell off a small island in the Rock River and had to be rescued. The accompanying video Zoellner shot of the rescue Alexa Zoellner has, to date, garnered more than 19,000 views on the Daily Union’s Facebook page. Zoellner also won first place for investigative reporting, Division C, in the 2016 WNA Better Newspaper Contest for her series, “Heroin: Consuming Resources.” The series examined how the heroin epidemic was impacting the budgets
and resources of some of Jefferson County’s largest departments. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Western Illinois University, graduating at the top of her class and with honors. Zoellner has minors in photographic media and engineering technology. “We welcome Alexa to our Shaw Media team and look forward to her enthusiasm and coverage-style for all of our publications,” said General Manager Earleen Hinton. Zoellner replaces Jeff Helfrich who took a position in May with the Rochelle News Leader. She can be reached at 815-632-2590 or by email: azoellner@shawmedia.com. Her Twitter and Facebook handles are @alexazoellner91.
