Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
Hawks Win
Happy 2016
The Hawks open up the Newman Christmas Classic with a pair of wins Dec. 26. B1
Tree Recycling
Be smart during holiday celebrations while ringing in the New Year.
With the new year approaching, it is time to think about recycling the Christmas tree. A6
Conover is getting a face-lift
Winter mix hits hard Monday By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com A century-old building in Oregon is getting some much-needed repairs thanks to its owner and a brand new volunteer organization. Lou VanderWyst, owner of Conover Square, and Rick Ryland, a board member of Hands On Oregon, spent the day before Christmas shoring up the sagging south side of the former piano factory on the bank of the Rock River. Bundled up against a brisk winter wind, the two spent the day cutting new 2x4 studs and reinforcing the framework of the wall. “We’re addressing the most serious part of the wall by putting in new studs,” Ryland said. “This area is the worst because at one time a loading dock was added here,” VanderWyst said. “That let the moisture get in.” The walls were originally brick, he said, but those were removed and asphalt shingles were applied to the exterior walls. Then stucco was put on top of that. Moisture got between the layers and caused deterioration of the underlying structure, Ryland said. Most of the damage is at the bottom of the wall where the moisture collected, causing the wall to bulge. After the bowed-out south side of Conover Square became a topic of growing local concern in recent months, Hands On Oregon (HOO) members Ryland and Jeff Hallock decided to do something to help fix it. The not-for-profit was formed with the purpose of enriching the lives of Oregon citizens through local Lou VanderWyst, on the lift, and Rick Ryland cut and install Turn to A2 new studs Dec. 24 in the south wall of Conover Square. Photo by Vinde Wells
Landmark barn burns in Leaf River By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Weather conditions hampered firefighters Monday afternoon as they battled a fire that destroyed a Leaf River landmark. Leaf River Fire Chief Steve Shelton said the Stukenberg family’s century and a half-old barn on the southeast corner of Ill. 72 and Main Street is a total loss, but praised firefighters for saving other nearby buildings, including two houses. “The firemen worked hard to save the houses. They did an outstanding job,” he said. “The wind made things very
challenging.” A strong east wind drove the flames from the barn toward all the buildings, but especially threatened the closest house. In fact, Shelton said the flames were blowing so far over the roof of that house when he arrived on the scene just before 3 p.m. that he thought it was already on fire. “When we pulled up I thought the house was on fire, too,” he said. “The barn was fully engulfed when we got there. I thought we would lose that house, too. I’m very happy with the save.” Besides the winds, firefighters from 10 area departments battled slippery
conditions and deep slush from a winter storm that delivered sleet, snow, and freezing rain across the county all day Monday. Because one of the two village wells was out of service for maintenance, tanker trucks were sent to Forreston to fill up with water and bring it back to the fire, Shelton said. “We didn’t want to run the well out of water,” he said. No cause for the fire had yet been determined Tuesday but Shelton expected to meet with the state fire marshal that afternoon. Nancy Stukenberg, who lives at the farm, watched in the steady cold rain as flames engulfed the large barn that
Flames engulf the Stukenberg family’s century and a half-old barn in Leaf River Dec. 28. Photo by Vinde Wells
In This Week’s Edition...
December 31, 2015 Volume 166, Number 3 - $1.00
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
had been owned by her family for generations. “It was built in 1844,” she said. “We just put a new roof on it last summer.” She was relieved that her three horses, usually stabled in the barn, had been outside in a nearby feedlot when the fire started. “The horses are fine. Everything else can be replaced,” she said. Stukenberg said hay and feed were stored in the barn, as well as lawn mowers and other equipment. Shelton said no one was injured in the fire. Family members were at home when the fire broke out, he said, and one was taken to the hospital by ambulance for a pre-existing medical condition. Shelton said he had not yet confirmed reports of explosions from the barn as it burned. “There were no explosions while we were on the scene,” he said. “I’m looking into that.” Firefighters remained on the scene until almost 7:30 p.m. Fire departments that responded to calls for mutual aid included Mt. Morris, Oregon, Forreston, Polo, German Valley, Byron, Stillman Valley, Pecatonica, and Lynn-Scott-Rock. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department also assisted at the scene.
Library News, A7 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A6 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1 State’s Attorney, B3
After a mostly mild December with recordsetting high temperatures, Old Man Winter showed his true colors Monday with a post-Christmas punch. A major winter storm swept into northern Illinois late Sunday night bringing high winds and a wintry mix of slushy precipitation that lasted into late Monday night. Although Christmas was green with temperatures in the high 40s, area residents woke up Monday morning to a layer of sleet and snow covering the ground. Lt. Greg Kunce of the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department said slushy road conditions led numerous accidents, while the ice and wind caused power outages. “We had a multitude of
vehicles in ditches, several wrecks, agency assists, power poles snapped, wires down, and trees down,” he said Tuesday. “It was a long day.” Conditions deteriorated as the day wore on, Kunce said, with a mixture of sleet, snow, and freezing rain making roads treacherous all across the county. Broken power poles and downed wires led to power outages with almost 900 people reported out of electricity at one point. The sheriff’s department also assisted with a fire that destroyed a large barn in Leaf River in the mid-afternoon. Ogle County Highway Department snowplow drivers started spreading salt at 4 a.m. Monday and were on the job plowing roads for 13 hours. “The big problem was how slushy everything was,” said Turn to A2
No accelerant found on 1948 murder victim By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Lab tests done earlier this year on the remains of a 1948 murder victim show no signs of an accelerant. Winnebago County Deputy Coroner Bill Hintz said Monday that results of testing done on scrapings taken from the skull of Stanley Skridla came back negative. “Scrapings from the skull were sent to the Joliet crime lab to test for accelerant and came back negative,” he said. Skridla was exhumed May 28 from his grave at Calvary Cemetery, west of Rockford. Winnebago County officials ordered the exhumation, requested by Skidla’s nephew, Stephan Skridla,Rockford, in an effort to solve the murders of Stanley Skridla, then 28, and his date, Mary Jane Reed, then 17, on a lover’s lane just outside of Oregon. Stephan Skridla was assisted in his efforts by former Oregon Mayor Michael Arians. Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said after the exhumation that because of the Skridla family’s concern that his body had been burned with acid, scrapings were taken from the skull. She said the scrapings would be analyzed to determine the presence of acid or an accelerant, such as gasoline. The test results recently
became available. Two .32 bullets were also removed from Skridla’s casket during the exhumation and sent to the crime lab for testing, along with a .32 gun turned over to Arians, who gave it to Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle. VanVickle reported last week that test results showed one bullet was too corroded to be tested and the other was not fired from the gun that was also tested. In a press conference the day after Skridla’s exhumation, Arians said he had uncovered new evidence in the case, including the two guns he believes were used to kill Reed and Skridla. One of those guns was submitted for testing along with the bullets from Skridla’s casket. Arians said the guns had been passed down to new owners over the generations from the killers. He declined to reveal who the current gun owners are, but said he gave that information to investigators. Arians said last week that he spent $14,000 of his own money on Skridla’s exhumation. The long-unsolved case began on June 24, 1948 when Reed, who lived in Oregon, failed to return home after a date. She and Skridla, her companion on the night she disappeared, were subsequently found shot to death. Skridla’s body was Turn to A2
Deaths, B4 Kraig H. Avey, I. Deborah Barnhart, Laura N. Behan, Mary Ellen Ridenour
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com