Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
May 12, 2016 Volume 166, Number 22 - $1.00
Tourney Time
Eden Honored
Spring sports will begin their postseasons next week. B2
Stan Eden gets Illinois’ Lifetime Volunteer Award for his work with Ogle 4-H clubs. A4
Special Insert!
Work stops on historic statue By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Efforts to preserve Ogle County’s most well-known landmark are indefinitely on hold due to a conflict over artistic integrity. Repair work on the Black Hawk Statue has been halted while the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) looks for a new general contractor for the project to replace Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park. “The contract with the project’s general contractor has not been renewed, so repairs have halted temporarily while the Illinois Department of Natural Resources seeks a new general contractor. No timeline has been established yet for when
work might be restarted,” IDNR Communications Director Chris Young said in an email sent May 4. The IDNR has jurisdiction over the statue because it’s situated in Lowden State Park near Oregon. Dajnowski, who was under contract last year with the IDNR to work on the 105-year-old statue, said he declined to sign the contract the IDNR sent him for this year because it stipulated that the repairs be done in a way he could not agree to. “They hired an engineer who wanted to remove more of the surface of the statue than necessary,” he said. “Ethically that’s not acceptable. I’m a conservator, she’s an engineer.” He confirmed that the The Black Hawk Statue at Lowden State Park remains encased in plastic mesh with Turn to A2
a fence around it while the IIDNR searches for a general contractor to undertake repairs to the 105-year-old icon. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Council grants license Mayor originally denied application By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com An Oregon business owner received a round of applause Tuesday night after the City Council overturned the mayor’s denial of his liquor license. Last month, Charlie Perrine, owner of Charlie’s Family Restaurant, 317 Washington St., was denied a license. The council voted 3-2 Tuesday to reverse that decision. In Illinois, a business must have a liquor license to have gaming machines, which Perrine wants. He asked if there was a way to appeal the decision, and Mayor Ken Williams decided to allow the Turn to A3
Duane Linscott devoted four decades to police work By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A Mt. Morris man who really never intended to become a police officer ended up working for five area departments and devoting 42 years of his life to public service. Margie Linscott said her late husband Duane came from a family devoted to law enforcement but didn’t want that for himself. “He said he never wanted to be a cop because his dad was a cop,” Margie said. “He knew the demands of the job.” Duane’s father was a Lee
National Police Week is May 15-21 County deputy, and his mother was a police matron. By the time of his death from a blood disorder last December, Duane had worked part-time as an Ogle County deputy and as a reserve officer for the Oregon, Mt. Morris, Polo, and Byron Police Departments. Besides that, he had worked on ambulance crews and was the Ogle County Chief Deputy Coroner for 18 years. “He loved people ,” Margie said. “Everyone kept asking him ‘will you help us
out here, will you help us out there.’ He never said no. He was just glad to help.” After graduating from Ashton High School in 1970, Duane went to work for the DeKalb Ogle Telephone Company as a lineman. He worked for the same company for 30 years, through changes of ownership and name, retiring from Verizon in 2000. Duane and Margie were married in 1973, and not long after he and a friend applied for deputy positions with the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department. Both were hired. That started Duane’s career Turn to A4 Duane Linscott was a reserve Oregon police officer. Photo supplied
Courthouse steps being replaced Cost of the work is $286,300 By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com
OES Art Show Aubrie and Alyssa Schefcik, Oregon, look at the art work on display May 6 at the Oregon Elementary School Art Show. Photo by Vinde Wells
In This Week’s Edition...
Visitors to the Ogle County Courthouse will quickly notice a large hole on the side of the building. The steps leading into the west side of the building have been removed and on Tuesday afternoon a gaping hole and construction equipment was at the site. Sjostrom & Sons, Rockford is replacing the deteriorating steps that lead to the first floor of the 125-year-old courthouse. “The work will cost $286,300 for both the east and west steps and the ADA entrance,” said Ogle County Board Long Range Planning Chairman Don Griffin. “The steps will be made of granite
Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
and will have a rough surface to prevent slipping.” Plans also call for spending $22,000 to heat the steps. Griffin said that will make the steps safer during the winter months by keeping snow and ice from building up. “Work began on the west side a couple weeks ago,” he said. “The east side work will be done as soon as the west steps are finished.” Each set of steps is estimated to take six weeks to complete. Funds to pay for the project will come from the Long Range Planning Fund. The revenues in the fund come from host fees paid by garbage companies to dump in landfills in the county. Work will also be done on the ADA entrance into the basement of the building. Renovations to the courthouse were completed in 2010.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Library, A6 Oregon Police, A8 Public Voice, A7
Workers from Sjostrom and Sons, Rockford, have been removing the old steps on the west entrance of the Ogle County Courthouse. The company is replacing the deteriorating steps on both the east and west entrances of the building. Currently the east door is open and the west handicap ramp is open. Photo by Chris Johnson
Property Transfers, B3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, A7
Deaths, B4-B5 Steven G. Benesh, Jan L. Feary, Dorothy Henry, Carol A. Mackey, Harold “Andy” Martin, Mark E. Moring, Walter G. Price, Marian L. Ratmeyer, Jenny Sikula, Patty A. White
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com