Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
September 10, 2015 Volume 165, Number 39 - $1.00
Third Place
Remember 9/11
Uganda Trip
The Lady Hawks placed 10th during a tough Oregon Varsity Volleyball Tournament. B1
Remember those we lost on Sept. 11, 2001 A10-11
A DLR student earned a trip to Uganda by collecting shoes for a service project shoes. A9
City enters into contract with county’s GIS By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com
Two crosses marking the traffic fatalities of Andy Conderman and Emily Fleming were placed near the scene of the Sept. 4 accident. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Services set for crash victims Two killed on Sept. 4 near Davis Junction By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com Two victims of a Sept. 4 crash south of Davis Junction will be laid to rest later this week. A memorial service for Emily Fleming, 17, Stillman Valley, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at Stillman Valley High School where she was a senior. Funeral services for Andy Conderman, 64, Amboy are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, Dixon. Both died as a result of a two-vehicle crash that occurred around 5 p.m. at the intersection Ill. 251 and Big Mound Road. According to a press release issued by Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle, Conderman was driving his pick-up truck south on Ill. 251 when it was struck by a car driven by Alison Seiler, 17, Stillman Valley. Seiler was westbound on Big Mound Road and failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Ill. 251, the press release said. Fleming and Carly Koenig, also 17, Stillman Valley, were passengers in Seiler’s car. The vehicles came to rest in a soybean field at the southwest corner of the intersection, where Conderman’s truck
burst into flames. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Ogle County Coroner Lou Finch said an autopsy done on Tuesday indicated he died of blunt force trauma. Fleming was pronounced dead at the Rockford hospital where she was airlifted. Winnebago County Deputy Coroner Bill Hintz said an autopsy showed the preliminary cause of her death to be blunt force trauma. Koenig was airlifted to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, where she remains in serious condition. Seiler was transported by ambulance to a Rockford hospital, and has been released to recuperate at home. Ill. 251 from Holcomb Road to Ill. 72 was closed for several hours after the crash. All three teens are seniors at Stillman Valley High School. They are varsity cheerleaders and were headed to Stillman Valley’s football game versus Richmond Burton when the crash took place. The game was cancelled when school officials were alerted to the crash. Meridian (Stillman Valley) School Superintendent PJ Caposey said Monday that all athletic events in the district have been cancelled until Friday. He said 40 grief counselors from neighboring districts were at the high school Tuesday to meet with students when they returned for classes after the Labor Day weekend. He said Fleming was a leader and well-liked by fellow students.
Andy Conderman
Emily Fleming
She was president of the National Honor Society, played the lead in last year’s school play, was on the girls basketball and soccer teams, active in choir and Student Council, and a cheerleader. She also played the piano and sang. “She was very involved in her church as well,” he said. Conderman was married and the father of four sons and 10 grandchildren. He had worked for the Illinois Department of Transportation for 39 years prior to his retirement in 2010 and had been working as a consultant for IDOT for the last five years. He was a member the Army Reserves and the Illinois National Guard. The crash remains under investigation. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department is being assisted by the Illinois State Police accident reconstruction team. Fire departments that assisted at the scene include Lynn-Scott-Rock, Davis Junction, Stillman Valley, Monroe Center, Rochelle, New Milford, and Rockford.
LR man tried to help at fatal crash By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A rural Leaf River man was one of the first Good Samaritans who pitched in to help at a crash that claimed two lives Sept. 4 near Davis Junction. “Quite a few cars had already stopped when I got there,” Mike Morrison, 48, said. “I was one of the first people who tried to do something to help.” Morrison was on his way home from work when he saw the flames from the pick-up truck that was one of
the two vehicles that collided at the intersection of Ill. 251 and Big Mound Road around 5 p.m. The crash claimed the lives of Emily Fleming, 17, Stillman Valley, and Andy Conderman, 64, Amboy. Conderman was pronounced dead at the scene, and Fleming was pronounced dead at a Rockford hospital where she was airlifted. Conderman was the driver of the pick-up truck, and Fleming was one of three Stillman Valley High School students in the car. They were cheerleaders headed to
In This Week’s Edition...
Stillman Valley’s football game versus Richmond Burton. The truck was fully engulfed in flames when he got there, Morrison said, but he still approached it to try to get the driver out. “The fire was so intense I couldn’t get close,” he said. “At first, I thought the car was on fire, too, so I wanted to help whoever was inside to get them out.” Although the two vehicles Mike Morrison stopped to were close together in help at the accident scene, A pediatrician was also on a soybean field on the southwest corner of the the scene, Morrison said, and intersection, the car did not he assisted her. Turn to A2 catch fire.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5 Library News, A8
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B4
Entering into a $20,000 contract with the Ogle County GIS Partnership will allow the Oregon Economic Community Development Committee to utilize a tool to try and draw new opportunities to the city. Commissioner Terry Schuster brought the idea to the council via the committee’s request. “This will be used to identify properties in the city and package marketing materials,” he said. “This is a five year commitment from the economic development budget.” The cost is $4,000 per year for the first five years. Each additional year beyond that is $1,200 per year. “The GIS system gives us the most accurate information to use,” said Schuster. “You pay for the map once and it can be updated. It is a versatile system.” Schuster said the county has the GIS system in place and the city has the opportunity to add on to what has already been created. “With this we can identify every commercial property in the city,” he said. “We can also color code these properties by type - service,
retail, or office.” Having information is needed to draw businesses to the city, he said. The council unanimously approved the contract unanimously. The county-wide geographic information system (GIS) is an online mapping and database service that provides a variety of services. In general the GIS map shows each parcel in the county and cities and what taxing districts they are located in including school districts, fire districts, or park districts. The system also identifies congressional districts and county board district. The zoning and TIF districts of a property are also available. The public has access to view parts of the maps, while governmental agencies that subscribe to the service have access to make requests to update the maps and print out new maps when needed. Schuster said a single map from other sources can cost as much as $4,000 every time a change is made, but with the GIS agreement the council can update maps more frequently with the agreement the council approved. Turn to A2
Village official suggests plan for cleaning up plant By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A Mt. Morris village official introduced a plan Tuesday for dealing with the safety issues and unsightliness of the former Quad Graphics printing plant. “I went down and looked at it. It was eye-opening,” said trustee Jon Murray. “I see a two-stage approach.” The first stage, he said, would be to write a letter to the California corporation that now owns the building. The second would be to take legal action against the owners. That, however, would be expensive, Murray warned. “To take it further, we are going to incur considerable expense,” he said. Murray’s comments came after Chris Corcoran, who lives next to the plant, voiced his concerns that the nearly abandoned plant is deteriorating and poses safety and environmental hazards, violates building codes and weed ordinances, exposes citizens to a liability, and reduces property values in the community.
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Corcoran has addressed the board several times in the past, complaining about uncut weeds, holes in the building, and dangers to local youngsters who may wander onto the property. “I feel it violates every ordinance we have. It’s a horrible looking building,” he said. “I want something done.” Murray said the gate at the plant is now closed and locked, which should keep youngsters from entering the property. He said he appreciates Corcoran’s concerns but pointed out the difficulty of dealing successfully with a large corporation located hundreds of miles away. “Everything you’ve said is true, Chris. It’s an eyesore, it’s dangerous…” Murray said. The plant is presently owned by Mt. Morris Business Park LLC, Downey, California, an entity completely unrelated to the Village of Mt. Morris. Quad Graphics currently leases the plant as a warehouse to store equipment. They employ two people to manage and maintain the facility.
Deaths, B5 Nora J. Mead Earl B. Straley