Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
May 21, 2015 Volume 165, Number 23 - $1.00
State Bound
Ranger
Recognition
The Lady Hawks track team will compete in five events at the state meet this week. B1
Read about tourism activities throughout Ogle County. Inside
Ogle County Telecommunicators were recognized for their tornado response. A10
No bond reduction in fleeing to elude case By Vinde Wells Editor
An Ogle County judge denied a motion Tuesday to reduce the bond for the Peoria man who led Ogle County Sheriff ’s Police on a high speed chase two weeks ago. Judge Robert Hanson ruled that the bond for
Daniel H. Swisher, 40, will remain at $250,000. Swisher’s attorney Paul Whitcombe, Dixon, had asked for the bond to be reduced to $100,000. “I know very little about Mr. Swisher,” Hanson said. “And now I’m finding out today that he has another fleeing to elude charge in Peoria County.”
Hanson asked the Ogle County Probation Department to do a background check on Swisher and bring back the needed information in time for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, May 27. Swisher was charged May 13 with four counts of aggravated fleeing to elude, all Class 4 felonies;
two counts of resisting a peace officer, both Class 4 felonies; and possession of cannabis, a misdemeanor. Whitcombe said Swisher has no previous felony convictions and no history of violent crimes. Swisher testified at Monday’s hearing that he has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and has suffered
from manic depressive episodes since 1998. He said he has been prescribed medication for the condition, but was not taking it when he fled from Ogle County deputies May 6. Swisher told the court that he was hospitalized in 1998 after an episode when he took a car from a
dealership believing it to be his property. Subsequently, he said he quit taking the medication he was prescribed and had no more episodes until 2013. Since 2013, he said, he has been hospitalized nine times. Swisher agreed to bond Turn to A9
Bison Boom Herd is already helping prairie at the Grasslands By Earleen Hinton General Manager Yes, yes, all the buzz may be about the baby bison boom at Nachusa Grasslands, but the real excitement is what the grown ups are already doing to help restore the prairie. “It’s been super exciting ever since the bison arrived and we are already starting to see success from bison grazing,” said restoration ecologist Cody Considine. “It looks like the bison are eating the grasses around the spring flowers and that’s pretty cool.” While the recent inclusion of the big prairie mammals may be what’s driving new people to the Nature Conservancy’s 3,500-acre Grasslands, located east of Dixon and south of Oregon,
Bison calves are surrounded by cows at the Nachusa Grasslands. As of last week, 11 calves had been birthed by the Nature Conservancy’s bison herd at the Grasslands. Photo by Earleen Hinton
it is the delight in the details that inspires Considine and other Grasslands volunteers who have spent years and hundreds of hours pulling invasive plants, collecting prairie plants seeds, burning, and replanting. “Already we can see where the prairie plants are doing better based on where and what the bison are eating, but from a science research point of view, this study will take several years. Right now,
it is very evident they are avoiding the forbs (flowers) and eating the grass,” he said. Bison were reintroduced to the Grasslands in October 2014 when Considine and Bill Kleiman, preserve manager, and Grassland volunteers, made three trips totaling nearly 3,500 miles to transport cows and bulls from established herds in Iowa and South Dakota to the Grasslands.
The Grasslands’ herd is the first to live at a TNC preserve east of the Mississippi and also the first conservation herd in Illinois—with a primary purpose of helping the prairie thrive. And so far, the bison seem be fitting well into their new home. The first calf was born in early April, followed by 10 soon after. “As of last Saturday, we now have 11 new calves,” said Considine. “We now
have 41 in the herd.” The bison, and their calves, have also meant an increase in visitors driving by the bison enclosure, to catch a glimpse of the new additions. The Grasslands kiosk, located on Lowden Road, offers maps of the Grasslands including where the bison are located. “People are excited about the bison. Now people can come here and learn more
Poetry helped POW in Hanoi Borling speaks at Armed Forces Day Fundraiser By Vinde Wells Editor Writing poems in his head was part of what kept John Borling going during the six and one-half years he was a prisoner of war in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” Borling, a retired Major General in the U.S. Air Force, spoke about his experience and the book he has written about it on May 16 at an Armed Forces Day celebration held for veterans at Barnacopia. The event was also a fundraiser for a bronze sculpture that will be placed at the Veterans Memorial on the Ogle County Courthouse Square. “The essence of the human condition is the ability to create,” Borling told the audience of 175 veterans and their guests.
He said the sculpture, which depicts a young soldier kneeling before the grave of a comrade, has the ability to inspire. A fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, Borling was shot down by ground fire north of Hanoi. Seriously injured and barely able to walk, he tried to commandeer a truck. Unfortunately it was occupied by North Vietnamese soldiers, and he was taken prisoner. Borling’s book “Taps on the Walls” is a compilation of the poems he wrote as a POW, mostly spent in solitary confinement. “It will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you think,” he said. U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), also a POW at the Hanoi Hilton, wrote the forward to the book. Portions of the book describe Borling’s experiences and those of his fellow prisoners while they were held captive by the North Vietnamese military.
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about what we do and how they can contribute. They may or may not be able to see the herd, depending on where they are at. This isn’t a zoo. These are wild animals,” said Considine. Sometimes the herd can be seen grazing on the west side of Lowden Road or from the north side of Stone Barn Road or south from Flagg Road. Turn to B3
Memorial Day parade, ceremony is May 25
Major General John Borling speaks at the Armed Forces Day Celebration and Ogle County Veterans Memorial Fundraiser as T. Richard Day, a Vietnam veteran, and Gary Bocker, Polo, listen. The new soldier sculpture for the memorial, scene in the background, was unveiled at the event. Photo by Earleen Hinton
He also devoted a section to the mental anguish his wife Myrna suffered for the three years she didn’t know if he had been killed or captured and in the subsequent years until his release on Feb. 12, 1973. Borling related that he and other prisoners developed a code of communicating with each other through tapping on the wall.
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Along with other messages, he tapped his poems to the other prisoners. Tapping was not without risk. If prisoners were caught communicating they were severely punished. “They would hurt you and they would hurt you bad,” Borling said. Undaunted, he went so far as to teach his fellow prisoners French through
Library News A9 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A8 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B6
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B4
taps on the wall. “One thing kept us going more than anything else — we wanted you to be proud of us,” Borling said, emotion showing in his voice. After his release, Borling continued his 37-year career in the USAF. He was highly decorated for his service, receiving numerous medals including a Silver Star, two Turn to A2
Oregon VFW Post 8739 will hold its Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony on Monday, May 25 from 10:15 to 11 a.m. at Riverside Cemetery The parade will start at 10 a.m. with the Oregon VFW Post 8739 and American Legion Post 97, the Oregon High School Band, Brownie Scout Troop 374 and Boy Scout Troop 52. The invocation will be given by retired general Bruce VanderKolk, and the memorial address will be given by John Tuttle, Commander and Chaplin of the 6th District and Post 8739. The Salute to Departed Veterans will be given by the American Legion and the VFW and the bugle will be played by a member of the OHS Band. After the ceremony, a pot luck dinner will be held at VFW Post 8739, and everyone is invited to attend.
Deaths, B3 Frances L. Shadewaldt
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com