ORR_02262015

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Serving Ogle County since 1851

OREGON Republican Reporter

Fourth at State

February 26, 2015 Volume 165, Number 11 - $1.00

Blood Drive

Toy Shows

OHS wrestler Matt Crandall battles his way to a fourth place medal at the state meet. B1

The Chana Education is hosting a blood drive on Friday, Feb. 27. A9

Annual farm toy shows return to Polo and Forreston in March. A10

Zoning change for new Ace store approved Store will be part of Snyders Pharmacy By Vinde Wells Oregon An Oregon businessman’s plan to open an Ace Hardware store in town passed its first hurdle Tuesday evening when

the city council approved his rezoning request. The city council unanimously approved a request from Tom Felker, owner of Snyder Pharmacy, to rezone the property he owns at 206 N. Third St., from R-1 Residential to Commercial to allow him to expand the drug store to include a hardware store. The Oregon Plan

Commission unanimously approved the zoning change during a Feb. 17 meeting and recommended approval to the city council, which has the final say. Felker said he hopes to break ground for the expansion as soon as possible this spring. “We’re looking forward to it,” he said after the Tuesday meeting. “It’s an opportunity.

If I’d had a crystal ball I would have done it last fall before Basler’s closed.” Basler’s Ace Hardware on Pines Road at the south edge of Oregon closed Oct. 1 of last year when owner Jeff Basler retired. Mayor Tom Stone said he is pleased about the new project. “I’m very happy about it,” he said. “I’ve been working

on this for six months. I’ve talked to Hardware Hank and True Value as well as Ace. I’m glad it’s Tom Felker who’s doing it because he always does a good job.” Three other locations were considered, Stone said, including the empty Bemis Motors building on Fourth Street, and two former Basler locations — the one on Pines Road and the other

on the corner of Third and Washington Streets in the downtown. According to a preliminary drawing, a 75 by 130 foot addition will be built onto the north side of the Snyder Pharmacy building at 201 N. Fourth St., on the corner of Fourth (Ill. 2) and Franklin Streets. Felker said the present Turn to A2

Rauner’s plan could spell woes for local towns Municipalities could see drastic cuts in revenue By Vinde Wells Editor

Oregon Fire Department Lieutenant Chad Bergstrom signals to a fire truck as he responds to a car fire at 203 Jefferson Street in Oregon on Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. Photo by Chris Johnson

Battery explodes, car burns up No one was injured Monday morning when a car battery exploded and caused the car it was in to burn. Oregon Fire Chief Don Heller said the battery in a car belonging to Melissa Schoepfer was being charged when the explosion occurred and ignited a fire in the front

end of the vehicle, which was parked at 203 Jefferson Street in Oregon. Nearby buildings were not damaged in the blaze, which was reported at 10:30 a.m. The incident was the second vehicle fire handled by the Oregon Fire Department in the last few

days. Heller said a garbage truck belonging to Moring Disposal Inc., Forreston, caught on fire Feb. 20 around noon at the intersection of German Church and Deer Path Roads, northeast of Oregon. The driver had apparently

unknowingly picked up a load of garbage containing hot coals that ignited the contents of the truck, Heller said. The driver dumped the load in the road before firefighters arrived, and Rockvale Township officials assisted with the clean-up.

Local village and city officials say the state budget cuts proposed by Gov. Bruce Rauner last week would put a significant strain on their finances. In fact, one called the potential loss “disastrous.” “It would be disastrous for us if they did that,” Mt. Morris Village Treasurer Bruce True said Monday. “I don’t think the legislature is going to do it, but we have to be prepared.” In a speech Feb. 18, Rauner laid out his plan to reduce the share of state income tax revenues that goes to municipalities from eight percent to four percent for the state’s fiscal year that begins July 1. The governor’s plan is the opening round of proposals and counter-proposals that are typically introduced before the state legislature approves the final budget.

In dire financial straits for the last several years, the state is currently facing an estimated $9 billion deficit. “This is our last, best chance to get our house in order,” Rauner said during his address. While True agreed that the state must cut spending, he said Rauner’s proposal would mean a 14 to 15 percent loss of revenue for the village in the coming year. Instead of the anticipated $288,000 in income tax revenue for the year, Mt. Morris would receive only about $144,000, a substantial portion of its estimated $1 million in revenues, he said. The timing is less than ideal as well, True said. With the fiscal year for village and cities beginning May 1, local governments will have to set their budgets before they know what the final result will be in Springfield. True pointed out that with the state income tax rate declining from five percent to 3.5 percent as of Jan. 1, the revenues from that source were already going to be reduced. True said he and other Turn to A10

Polo 4th grader top speller, Oregon girl finishes second Zeigler, Cermak battled back and forth in Dixon By Jermaine Pigee Sauk Valley Media Back and forth went Rebekah Zeigler and Lydia Cermak, the final spellers left Feb. 19 in the Lee/ Ogle Regional Spelling Bee after 24 others had been eliminated. Finally, Cermak, a sixthgrader at Oregon Elementary School, was tripped up by the word tuckahoe. Zeigler, a fourth-grader at Centennial Elementary School, Polo, responded quickly by correctly spelling lederhosen. After 28 rounds, victory, and a trip to the

national bee, was within Ziegler’s reach. All that stood in the way was spelling one final word correctly. The word she was given was Borzoi, a large Russian wolfhound. Zeigler confidently stepped to the microphone in the packed auditorium of Dixon High School, and correctly spelled the word. “I feel really good about winning,” Zeigler said with a wide smile. “My mom and dad helped me a lot.” Zeigler had served notice last year as a third-grader, the youngest grade eligible in the bee, by finishing 10th. Students in the third through eighth grades can compete. By winning this year, Zeigler, the 9-year-old daughter of Mark and Alissa Zeigler, receives an allexpenses-paid trip for two to

In This Week’s Edition...

National Harbor, Md., just south of Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee that begins May 24 and concludes May 29. She also won a $100 U.S. savings bond, a Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, and an online subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica. Statistics suggest Zeigler’s win should not be a surprise. Thirteen of the past 16 winners in the Lee/Ogle contest were girls. Nationally, since the competition started in 1983, 53 percent of bee contestants have been female. Also, of the past champions, 78 percent had participated in the Lee/Ogle bee in previous years. Finally, eight of the past nine champions have come

Birth, A4 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6

Above left, Lydia Cermak, Oregon, concentrates on spelling a word during the Lee/ Ogle Regional Spelling Bee in Dixon on Feb. 19. Above right, fourth grader student Rebekah Zeigler, representing Polo’s Centennial Elementary School, smiles after winning the competition. Photos by Alex T. Paschal, Sauk Valley Media

from Ogle County. For finishing in second place, Cermak will receive a Kindle Paperwhite and a Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Maddy Jacobs, an eighthgrader from St. Anne School in Dixon, finished third. She bowed out when she misspelled angstrom. She

Fines, B6 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Library, A11 Oregon Police, B3 Property Transfers, B5

received a $40 gift certificate from Books on First in Dixon. Zeigler said she constantly visited spellingbee.com, the Scripps National site, for help with pronouncing the words. When she grows up, Zeigler said, she wants to be a nurse, but she also wants

Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, A12, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5

to be an author in her spare time. Younger students like Zeigler might not be able to compete in the bee next year, when students from Whiteside County join those in Lee and Ogle in the competiton. Details of the combined Turn to A2

Deaths, B4 Irene Black, Jacob M. Burke, Marion I. DeGraf, Donald Greenfield, David Petro

Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com


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