Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS
June 7, 2018 Volume 51, Number 34 - $1.00
Sports Highlights Andy Colbert highlights memorable sports moments from Oregon’s 2017-2018 season. B2
Monarch Help
At the Band Shell
IDOT’s strategic mowing plan to help the monarch butterfly is working. B1
The Rockin’ Fenderskirts play June 8, and the Kable Band kicks off its season June 13. A6
Five are arrested on drug charges By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
The head of the Black Hawk statue is slowly revealed last Friday morning by workers from Quality Restorations Inc, of Wood Dale, pull off the black plastic tarp that has covered it for the last 18 months. Photo by Vinde Wells
Unwrapping of statue shows more damage Fundraising continues to repair landmark By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The unwrapping of the Black Hawk statue June 1 revealed that the beloved landmark has deteriorated in the last 18 months. “Under the left elbow it’s worse. And the front where the leg is — that’s in dire condition,” said Karly Spell, a member of the Oregon Together Black Hawk Restoration Team. She also pointed out cracks near the head of the statue and on the left shoulder that weren’t apparent before. Oregon Mayor Ken Williams agreed. “The right shoulder looks worse, too,” he said. Keith Niles, the supervisor of the crew from Quality Restorations Inc., of Wood Dale, said the tarps and the padding underneath did their job by keeping moisture away from the statue. “It’s nice and dry under there,” he said, shortly after the wraps came off. Sculptor Lorado Taft created the 48-foot concrete statue as a tribute to Native Americans in 1910. It was unveiled and dedicated in 1911. Taft called his statue the Eternal Indian, but it has been
Inside on B2 State money is finally approved known as Black Hawk from the start, for the Sauk and Fox medicine man whose people frequented the area. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2009, the concrete statue needs repairs due to the ravages of weather and time. The right elbow on the statue is just one of the areas needing repairs. Over the years, despite numerous repair efforts, parts of the statue have crumbled and fallen off. Winter weather has been especially devastating. An examination in 2014 revealed that the most damaged areas are the folded arms of the statue, especially the elbows and underneath the arms; the middle of the robe; and the vertical fold in the robe from armpit to toe. Black Hawk was named to the state’s list of Most Endangered Historic Places in 2015 by Landmarks Illinois. The Black Hawk Restoration Team was formed several months ago to continue previous fundraising efforts to pay for the statue’s repairs. A estimated $500,000 is needed to complete the repair process started in 2014 by the Friends of the Black Hawk Statue. A long-promised $350,000 state grant finally approved last Black Hawk Restoration team members Karly Spell and Ken Williams look at the Turn to B2 Black Hawk statue after it was unveiled on June 1. Photo by Earleen Hinton
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A7
Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 State’s Attorney, B6
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Five area residents were arrested last week on drug charges after a threemonth investigation involving several law enforcement agencies into an event held at a Polo bar. Ogle County Sheriff’s Police arrested Spencer J. DeCrane, 21, of Polo, and Dix- Trevor Crawford on residents Trevor C. Crawford, 24, Emma C. Lantz, 22, Nicholas D. Durham, 30, Nathaniel C. Mason, 20, all on charges of delivery of a controlled Spencer DeCrane substance. Crawford and Lantz are charged with delivery of LSD, while DeCrane, Durham, and Mason are charged with delivery Nicholas Durham of cocaine. Sheriff Brian VanVickle said Tuesday that the arrests stemmed from an event that drew a Emma Lantz large crowd on Feb. 17 at the Polo Room, 712 N. Division Ave., Polo. “Multiple undercover officers were in the bar and purchased drugs from the Nathaniel Mason suspects and also witnessed unaccompanied minors in the bar and open drug use,” VanVickle said. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department was assisted by the Polo Police Department, Dixon Police Department, and the Stateline Area Narcotics Team (SLANT), which consists of officers from the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, Loves Park Police Department, Rockford Police Department, Illinois State Police, and the Monroe, Wisconsin Police Department.
Date will change for newspaper Due to a change in printing schedules, the Oregon Republican Reporter, Mt. Morris Times, Tri-County Press, and Forreston Journal will now publish on Fridays rather than Thursdays, effective with the June 15 editions. Papers will be distributed to each town’s respective post office on Thursday morning. Newsstand copies will be distributed on Thursday to retail outlets and news boxes. “Content and our commitment to the communities we serve will not change,” said Sauk Valley Media General Manager Jennifer Heintzelman. Ogle County Newspapers is a division of Sauk Valley Newspapers, Sterling, and Shaw Media.
Deaths, B6 Jerry Reinders Gerald L. Zellers