Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
Double Feature The Oregon Hawks and Lady Hawks hosted Byron in a pair of games Tuesday night. B1
February 5, 2015 Volume 165, Number 8 - $1.00
Scout Derby
Honoring Family
The Polo Cub Scouts held their annual Pinewood Derby. A4
A young student honored his late grandfather by writing an essay about his life. A12
Snow Closes Roads More than 12” falls over Ogle County Sunday By Chris Johnson Reporter The light snow that began falling Saturday night turned into a blizzard that dropped more than a foot of snow and made roads impassable across Ogle County. The snowfall began tapering off Sunday afternoon, but the winds picked up causing blizzard conditions and dangerously drifted roads. Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle had requested all motorists to avoid traveling after 4 p.m. on Sunday due to the road conditions. “Road conditions are extremely poor and very dangerous,” he wrote on a news release. “Many roads are nearly impassable and with the continued snow and gusty winds these conditions will continue to deteriorate.” This continued deterioration led the sheriff to close all roads in the county shortly before 9 p.m. “I decided to issue the
An Illinois Department of Transportation truck and snow blower was out on US 52 Monday morning clearing snow on the road. Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said US 52 west of Polo and Ill. 64 west of Ill. 26 were drifted due to high winds and a foot of snow. Photo by Chris Johnson
travel ban for the safety of our deputies and to warn motorists if they became stranded help may not be immediately available,” VanVickle said Monday morning. “We had issues throughout the day and evening with motorists not listening to the warnings.” Complicating matters was the NFL Super Bowl game Sunday evening. Many residents were still heading out to see the game at various parties despite the weather and poor road conditions. By the time the game was over the roads were shut down. Turn to B3
Capturing the aftermath of snow storm By Chris Johnson and Earleen Hinton Some used shovels others fired up their snowblowers and some just smiled and went sledding. Those were the range of responses from Ogle County residents we talked to and photographed on Monday— one day after Old Man Winter dropped more than a foot of snow in our lap. Tiffany Rufer and her exchange student, Anton Aba-Varela, were shoveling out the driveway in front of Rufer’s home on S. Third Street in Oregon.
“We shoveled some yesterday and are trying to finish up today,” said Rufer. Aba-Varela smiled as he reacted to the amount of snow. “See, I have my sunglasses on. We’ll shovel and then go skiing,” he said laughing. Across the street, Mary McGinnis was clearing the sidewalk with a snowblower. “We brought it from Wisconsin and I’m glad we did,” she said. One block away, four-yearold Sam Ross was too busy to stop and talk as he helped his mom Allie, shovel the Turn to A12
Mail carrier Diana Mullarkey battles deep snow to deliver the mail to an Oregon home Monday. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Area food pantries need donations By Vinde Wells Editor
With holiday giving past, local food pantries are still in need of donations to meet the ever-growing number of residents they serve. Four food pantries in Ogle County served a total of more than 300 families in December, a number that is steadily on the rise. “The need for helping people in Ogle County is greater than anyone would have imagined,” said Sharon Wallace, a board member at Oregon’s Lifeline Food Pantry. “Lots of people need a helping hand.” Polo Lifeline served 110 families in the Polo School District in November — an all-time high. “We get new people every month,” said director Kathy Wragg. “It’s not that people aren’t working. Jobs don’t pay enough.” The situation is the same in two more pantries. Four-year-old Sam Ross was busy helping his mom Allie “We get new people all shovel the sidewalk in front of their home on S. Third the time,” said Jan Francis, Street on Monday morning. Photo by Earleen Hinton a board member at Loaves &
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B8-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
Fish Food Pantry, Mt. Morris. Rhowena Genandt, who serves on the board of Forreston’s food pantry at the New Life Community Center, said six new people have come in for food in the last few days. The Mt. Morris and Polo pantries have been a little short on food since Christmas. Francis said they have had to send a few people away with less food than needed. Bad weather in early January kept the Polo pantry from getting a delivery from the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Wragg said. Genandt said the local churches that support the pantry have been faithful about donating both food and money. “We’ve been very blessed,” Genandt said. However, she added that some items, like laundry and dish soap, are always in short supply. Donations are often short this time of year for the Oregon pantry and again in
Fines, B6 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Property Transfers, B6
Volunteers Mary Head and Edna Smith work at the
Turn to A2 Oregon Lifeline Food Pantry. Photo by Vinde Wells
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B7
Deaths, B6 Harlan J. Alderks, Leo Barney Jr., J. Elaine Pumfrey, Robert J. M. Tudor
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com