Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
October 20, 2016 Volume 166, Number 45 - $1.00
Regional Champs
PAG Performs
McCanse Tribute
The Oregon Hawks needed penalty kicks to win the regional title Oct. 14. B1
“War of the Worlds” will be performed in Mt. Morris. B3
The McCanse family worked hard to preserve and restore the historic Chana School. A4
Former sheriff Michael Harn charged with theft By Rachel Rodgers rrodgers@saukvalley.com A former Ogle County sheriff has been accused of using county money to buy items for his own use while he was in office. Michael Harn, 54, was charged Oct. 12 with two counts of felony theft. According to court documents filed Oct. 12, prosecutors say he bought numerous items with
county funds, including electronic equipment, boat equipment, radiocontrolled toys, party tents, coolers, weapons, hunting guns, HarleyDavidson clothing and accessories, adult novelty items, and outdoor fountains. The list goes on to include auto maintenance for his personal vehicles, Apple iTunes products, and radio advertising. The total cost of the items falls between $500 and $10,000.
Current Sheriff Brian Va n V i c k l e said last week that the amount is in the thousands of dollars. Special P r o s e c u t o r Michael Harn Dave Neal, of the Illinois Office of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s
Office, said the charges resulted from a two-year Illinois State Police investigation that began shortly after an internal audit of the office in December 2014 and January 2015. The thefts are said to have occurred between June 1, 2011, and Dec. 2, 2014. The felonies each carry a sentence of 3 to 7 years in prison. Harn is set to appear in Ogle County Court on Nov. 10.
Harn served as Ogle County sheriff from 2010 to 2014 before being defeated by VanVickle in the 2014 Republican Primary. His salary was $87,000. Prior to being elected sheriff, Harn was an Ogle County deputy for several years. While in office, Harn stewarded a fund containing administrative tow fees and other money that was not included in the county’s budget. Turn to A2
Jail plan discussed By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com
Tom Grimes, of Granite Graphix, adds a name to a memorial square at the Ogle County Fallen Soldiers Memorial on Monday morning. Grimes said his company has added 28 names and plans on adding 26 before Veteran’s Day. Photo by Earleen Hinton
More names for memorial By Earleen Hinton ehinton@oglecountynews.com Tom Grimes and his son, Matt, were busy Monday morning adding names to the memorial bricks that surround the Ogle County Fallen Soldiers Memorial, located on the north lawn of the Ogle County Courthouse Square. “We have added 28 and hope to add more today,” said Grimes, whose company Granite Graphix is located in Winnebago. “We have 26 left to do and we are hoping to get those done before Veterans Day.”
Grimes said weather will be a factor on whether or not that deadline is met. “If the man upstairs is kind to us and we get the weather we need,” he said. The focal point of the memorial is a bronze statue depicting a young soldier kneeling before the grave of a comrade on a black granite base flanked by two black granite tablets that bear the names of soldiers who gave their lives in conflicts from World War I to the present. It was created and cast by sculptor Jeff Adams at his studio
inBronze Foundry, Mt. Morris. Names honoring veterans are also placed on the bricks that surround the memorial. The memorial was added to the courthouse square in 2015 and dedicated on Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11. 2015. Memorial bricks are still available and may be purchased by calling VFW Commander Rusty Barnes or Quartermaster Bob Coulter at the post headquarters at 815-732-6851.
The Ogle County Board got a look at what a new county jail in the heart of Oregon might look like. Jeff Goodale, Director of Justice at HOK, a Chicago architectural and planning firm, gave board members a drawing of a proposed detention center located South Sixth Street west of the judicial center on property owned by the county. HOK was hired a year ago to do a jail needs assessment. Goodale said the proposed building, which would house from 180 to 200 prisoners, would fall within the $28 million estimated previously. The site is large enough, he said, to allow for future expansion. The board has not yet voted on whether or not to build the new jail or on a site for it. Goodale’s drawing showed South
Sixth Street closed to traffic with a sally port across what is now the street connecting the new detention center to the judicial center. The sally port, he said, will be large enough to accommodate at least six vehicles to easily transport prisoners. The drawing showed the front of the jail facing north, lining up with the north side of the judicial center. “The brick used will blend with the judicial center, but the judicial center will remain the more prominent building,” Goodale said. Board member Lee Meyers, Byron, told Goodale he liked the concept, but would like to see a similar drawing of a detention center next to the public safety complex on First Street. “Most of the comments I’ve heard [on the proposed jail] have been about Sixth Street,” he said. “Several people don’t want that blocked off.”
Small bricks are $75 and large ones are $95.
Apartment fire in Oregon sends one to hospital By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The cause is undetermined of an early morning fire that damaged several apartments in Oregon Oct. 12, sent one resident to the hospital, and left 25 to 30 people homeless. Oregon Fire Capt. Randy Travis said Robert Blanchard, 51, the resident of Apt. 312 at Countryside Apartments at 700 E. Washington St., was rescued from the burning building by firefighters and transported to the hospital. He suffered non life threatening injuries, Oregon Fire Chief Mike Knoup said. The fire started in the upstairs of Blanchard’s apartment on the west end of the building. Knoup said investigators, including State Fire Marshal Greg Castronova, could not pin-point the exact cause of the fire.
“It’s going to remain undetermined,” Knoup said. “We know it started in the bathroom at the end of the bathtub. He had some type of heating device but we’re not sure what it was. It’s not suspicious at all.” The fire was reported at 3 a.m. by a resident. Travis said firefighters initially encountered a great deal of smoke. “Within 15 minutes of our arrival the flames came through the roof,” he said. Fire Department Chaplain Michael Hoffman said several apartments on the west end of the building had “major damage.” Firefighters from the Mt. Morris, Polo, Byron, Stillman Valley, Franklin Grove, Lynn-Scott-Rock and Monroe Center Fire Departments assisted at the scene. Knoup said the fire is the fourth in the apartment
In This Week’s Edition...
building in the last 10 years. “All of them have been accidental, caused by carelessness,” he said. Hoffman said the Red Cross came to the scene early on to assist the residents who had to flee their homes. Although the apartments on the east end of the building sustained only minor smoke damage, those residents were evacuated, too, and waited outside on the cool, gray morning. East end resident Melissa Burns, who has lived at Countryside for two years, said she was awakened at 3 a.m. by pounding on her door. “They started banging on the door and yelling ‘fire, fire,’” she said. The fire moved quickly through the west end of the building, Burns said, and stopped just short of her The cause is undetermined of a fire that started Oct. 12 in the upstairs of this apartment apartment. on the west end of Countryside Apartments at the corner of Ill. 64 and Daysville Road Turn to A2 in Oregon. Photo by Vinde Wells
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
Oregon Library, A3 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B5
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
Death, B4 Donald L. Horst