Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS
May 10, 2018 Volume 51, Number 30 - $1.00
Hawks Win in Six
American Life
Fun in the Mud
The Hawks baseball team handles DurandPecatonica 11-1 in six innings. B1
Ronald Reagan is this week’s Bicentennial feature A7
Mud was flying at the Rock River Motorcycle Riders Club’s spring bog event. B3
Oregon Park District gets $1M grant for bike path Route to Lowden State Park to come from federal funds By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com A bike path in the works for eight years can now move ahead, thanks to $1 million in federal funds. The Oregon Park District has been awarded $1,086,000 through the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Illinois
Transportation Enhancement Program to build the Rock River Heritage Trail, a bike and walking path from the edge of Oregon along River Road to Lowden State Park. “The district is obviously very excited,” said Oregon Park District Executive Director Erin Folk. “This is a great project for the park district, the community, and tourism in the area. Without the grant we couldn’t do it.” Made possible by federal funds administered by IDOT, ITEP awards are focused on improving bike and pedestrian travel, as well as other
surface transportation improvements that promote alternative options for getting around in the community. Folk said tentative plans call for construction to begin in May or June of 2019. The Ogle County Board, City of Oregon, and the park district agreed to split the $59,000 cost for an engineering study a year ago to increase the chances the park district would get the grant for the $1 project. Oregon Mayor Ken Williams said he is pleased. “We’re very happy that the grant was approved,” he said. “It will have a
major impact on the city to have that bike path to Lowden Park.” The City of Oregon also received an ITEP grant for $20,160 to cover the engineering costs to improve the sidewalk on the north side of Washington Street (Ill. 64) from Fourth Street to Fifth Street. Williams said the project is part of the city’s streetscape improvements to downtown sidewalks, most of which is already done and include new sidewalks and street lights. Williams said the city will apply for another ITEP grant to do the project once the engineering study is
complete. The grants, which were announced Monday by Gov. Bruce Rauner, are part of $37 million awarded for 54 projects throughout the state. The ITEP projects approved include biking and walking paths, trails, streetscape beautification work, and other projects designed to encourage safe travel across the various modes of transportation at the local level. To be eligible, applicants must commit a local match of at least 20 percent to their project and demonstrate a plan to have their awards spent within four years.
Judge Fish orders partial closing of Focus House
Mt. Morris and Leaf River firefighters extricate Richard Boyden, 45, Oregon, from his vehicle after a head-on crash in the 6200 block of North Mt. Morris Road early Tuesday morning. Photo courtesy of the Mt. Morris Fire Department
LR woman dies in head-on crash Oregon man is critically injured One person died and another was critically injured early Tuesday morning in a head-on crash approximately two miles southwest of Leaf River.
Ogle County Sheriff’s Police said Nancy Plemmons, 81, Leaf River, was pronounced dead at the scene in the 6200 block of North Mt. Morris Road. Richard Boyden, 45, Oregon, was extricated from his vehicle and flown to the Rockford Memorial Hospital
by React helicopter for critical injuries. Police said Plemmons was southbound when her vehicle crossed over the center line into the northbound lane and struck Boyden’s vehicle head on. The crash occurred shortly at 5:07 a.m.
Mt. Morris road was blocked for several hours while the crash was investigated. The Mt. Morris Police Department, Leaf River Fire Department, Mt. Morris Fire Department, and Ogle County Coroner assisted at the scene. The crash remains under investigation.
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A judge has ordered part of Ogle County’s residential program for juvenile offenders shut down, and the director has been fired. Judge Dan Fish, Chief Judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit, released a statement Tuesday afternoon about Focus House, a county-owned youth shelter-care facility operated by the Ogle County Probation Department. “I requested the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to conduct an operations review of Focus House,” Fish said in the press release. “Based on the recommendations of that review, I am temporarily closing the residential component of Focus House to start restructuring and reorganizing. “Brenda Mason has been named Interim Director. With her help, we will be keeping the Day Program open throughout this period of restructuring. We will be working closely with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to help with the implementation of these
recommendations. We will also be consulting with Ogle County, Rochelle Township High School District, Focus House Foundation, and the community. We look forward to their continued support.” County officials could not say what prompted the partial shutdown or when it will take place. Ogle County Board Chairman Kim Gouker confirmed that Focus House Director Martine Lyle was relieved of her duties last week. Mason had been the clinical supervisor at the facility. Fish could not be reached for further comment. Focus House Foundation Board President David Tess, Rochelle, said the facility has not been closed, and youths are still being housed there. “The foundation board has been made aware of operational issues at Focus House. We’re confident that they’re being addressed,” he said. “We’re committed to doing whatever we can to help to help during the process. We’re confident we will continue to provide a structured environment for the Turn to A3
Call prompts community effort to save 1861 building By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A chance phone call has led to a community effort to save an Ogle County building that dates back to the 1861. Oregon Together, along with other community volunteers, plan to move a brick summer kitchen built by Oregon founder John Phelps from 2996 W. Ill. 64 to John Phelps Park west of the Oregon Coliseum. It all started last year with a phone call to Otto Dick, a member of the Ogle County Historical Society, from Robert Mongan, current owner of the Phelps farmstead across from This brick summer kitchen was built by Oregon’s founder the Ogle County Airport. “He called me and asked if John Phelps in the 1860s, Photo by Otto Dick
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6 Library News, A3
we wanted to get a photo of it before he tore it down,” Dick said Monday. “After I saw it I said we want more than that.” That’s when the plan began to move the small building to Oregon. Mongan and his wife Esther readily agreed to donate the building to the historical society. Phelps, who came to the area in 1833, built the summer kitchen just behind the large brick home he built for his family about halfway between Mt. Morris and Oregon, not far from his log cabin. The clay to make the bricks came from Phelps’ fields, according to an account written by his grandson. The brick house burned
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Library, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B5
Senior Center News, A3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Sports, B1-B3 State’s Attorney, B3
down decades ago and another large home was built in its place. Mongan said he realized the historic significance of the building and has, in fact, spent several hundred dollars on repairs, including tuckpointing and fixing the wooden shingles on the roof. “I didn’t want to tear it down,” he said. “But we want to add onto our house.” The summer kitchen stands a few foot behind the house between it and the garage, exactly where the Mongans want to put their addition. Dick decided to enlist some help and contacted Oregon Together representative Roger Cain to see if the organization would be interested in
sponsoring the project and helping to raise the funds to move it. Cain was more than interested, and the Oregon Together Arts & Beautification Committee got involved. He approached the Oregon City Council in late April to get its blessing, which it gave Tuesday evening. In the meantime, Cain and Dick began discussing how the project would unfold. After conferring with a house mover, they realized the summer kitchen cannot be moved intact because the bricks are somewhat fragile. “We decided the best thing is to take it apart,” Cain said. They plan to enlist the help Turn to A2
Deaths, B5 Ronald G. Bader, Darrel D. Daub, Robert A . Gillick, Charles W. Hitchcock, Blanche A. Schroeder
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com