Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
November 3, 2016 Volume 166, Number 47 - $1.00
Regional Loss
Fall Back
Chief Honored
The Lady Hawks fall to Dakota in the volleyball regional final. B2
Turn your clocks back one hour to Standard Time at 2 a.m. Sunday.
The Oregon City Council honored Police Chief Darin DeHaan for 20 years of service. B3
Voters to decide on referendums By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
The winners of the different age groups in the Halloween Costume Contest Monday from left to right are: Victoria Ramirez (infant-1 year); Madelyn Miller (2-4 years); Gabe Reed (8 and up); and Coen Schafer (5-7 years and Best in Show). Photo by Zach Arbogast
Creative costumes on display By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecountynews.com Kids had a blast at a parade and costume contest at the Oregon Coliseum. A gathering of young super heroes, dinosaurs, and wizards lined up at the Coliseum Monday for the 68th annual Halloween Parade and Costume Contest. The parade ran along Fifth Street,
Jefferson Street, Third Street, and then on Franklin back into the Coliseum. The costumed kids were led by the Knights of Columbus and the Oregon Police and Fire Departments. After the celebratory parade lap, everyone poured into the Coliseum for the costume judging, beginning with an invocation from Father Joseph Naill of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. The contest had four separate age groupings: infant- 1 year, 1-4 years,
5-7 years, and 8 years and up. The infant-1 year group had some adorable entries, including a Viking, a dinosaur, and a fairy, but Victoria Ramirez wowed the crowd as a bowl of Dippin’ Dots. The 2-4 years runners-up featured the bride of Chucky, a stuffed lion, and an original skeleton princess, but first place was snapped up by Madelyn Miller as a mouse in a trap. Turn to A2
Heroin took young man to life of crime Editor’s note: This is the second of a four-part series on the growing use of heroin in Ogle county and how it is affecting governmental agencies, addicts, family members and the political process. By Andy Colbert acolbert@oglecounty news.com What does heroin make a user do? For James (not his real name), it was robbing a business at gunpoint, albeit with a toy gun.
“I didn’t want to do it, but had to,” James said. “By the time I made it back home, I had the dry heaves. I couldn’t believe this is what my life had become. I’m not that type of person, but needed money for heroin.” James’ indecision about robbing the business made him easy to catch. There were pace marks in snow in front of the store as he pondered whether or not to commit the crime. Police simply tracked his path from the store to his home and arrested him. On the surface, the good-
looking 27-year-old is polite, intelligent, and hard working. Why the need to sink into the darkness of drug addiction and risk losing it all? That certainly wasn’t his plan when he began dabbling in pot and alcohol in eighth grade. His descent into addiction continued after his mother had a debilitating accident. It wasn’t the accident that affected him most, but the fact she had a steady supply of powerful pain medications. James did not use heroin
is high school, but was well on the path to it, stealing his mom’s pain pills, continuing to drink, and experimenting with cocaine. “Still, I played sports, though I failed a drug test as a sophomore, had friends, was on the homecoming court and graduated,” he said. In 2010, he used heroin for the first time with a few of his friends, but eventually stopped. In 2012, he went back to heroin, but with the intention Turn to A2
Illinois State Fire Marshal,” VanVickle said in a statement released Monday evening. “Although the cause of the fire is still unknown, it is suspicious in nature.” Investigators have determined the fire started on the night of Oct. 18, according to the press release. The fire at 2020 N. Silverthorn Drive was reported around 6:40 a.m. on Oct. 19, apparently by Meyer’s ex-husband and the boy’s father, Duane C. Meyer, who was reportedly there to pick up the youngster. When Byron firefighters arrived, Meyer and a
Byron police officer were performing CPR on Amos, who had apparently been in an upstairs bedroom. The child and his father were taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where Amos was pronounced dead. Firefighters also could hear smoke alarms going off and encountered heavy smoke when they arrived. Maggie Meyer was found dead on the couch on the first floor. Byron Fire Chief Galen Bennett said at the scene that firefighters encountered very little fire, but a great deal of smoke when they arrived.
VanVickle said Tuesday morning that Amos died from smoke inhalation, but the cause of Margaret’s death has not yet been determined, pending test results. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone who may know something about the fire or saw anything suspicious in the Byron area on the night of Oct. 18, to contact the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office at 815-7322136. Callers can also contact Ogle-Lee Crime Stoppers at 888-228-4488. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
While national and state races on the Nov. 8 ballot may be hotly contested, all candidates for Ogle County posts are running unopposed. After voting for President, U.S. Senator, and State Comptroller, voters in the county will just have to decide on various referenda. Residents of the Forreston Fire Protection District have two referenda before them. The fire district board is asking voters to hike the taxes by a maximum of 10 cents, from 30 cents to 40 cents, per $100 of equalized assessed valuation (EAV) in both the fire service and the ambulance service. That means the annual real estate taxes on a $100,000 house would increase by approximately $33 for each levy or a total of $66 if both are approved. This is the first time the fire service has asked for an increase in its 68-year history. When the district was formed on Nov. 7, 1947, the tax rate was set at 30 cents per $100 EAV. The fire district took over the ambulance service in March of 1976 and the present tax rate of 30 cents per $100 EAV was set then. Currently the fire service taxes at 25.3 cents per $100 EAV and the ambulance at 24.7 cents. Fire officials say the increases are necessary to pay salaries of EMTs and for future purchases of both fire and ambulance equipment. Polo School District voters are being asked to change how they elect their school board members. A referendum on the ballot will ask if school board members should be elected at large and without restriction as to where they live. Currently no more than three members of the board can reside in the same congressional township. Back in 2007, the same
question was on the ballot and was narrowly defeated 241204. Superintendent Chris Rademacher is hoping for a different outcome this time around, especially since state laws have changed. “Last time it had to pass in every township, now it’s a two-thirds majority overall,” he said. Rademacher said he believes the change will result in a more democratic process. The three per township rule, he said has resulted increasingly in top the vote getters sometimes not being seated on the board because the quota for their township was already filled. “I think it will be great for the district,” he said. “Let the top vote-getters get elected. Then the people that the majority [of voters] wants will get elected. Now that’s not necessarily the case.” Officials in Taylor and Lafayette Townships, on the county’s southern border, are asking voters to combine the two townships into one. The county board gave the plan its blessing last July. Township officials say the move will be beneficial financially and more efficient for doing road work. For the merger to happen, a majority of voters in both townships will have to approve the referendum. If approved, the new township will be called TaylorLafayette. A small number of Ogle County voters who live in the Dixon School District will be asked whether or not to spend $80.6 million to build and equip a new high school. Uncontested county races on the ballot include Laura J. Cook for an unexpired two-year term as clerk and recorder, Kim Stahl for a fourterm term as circuit clerk, Eric Morrow for a four-year term as state’s attorney, and Louis G. Finch IV for a four-year term as coroner. All four are Republicans. Also uncontested are 16 county board seats
Byron fire has been ruled suspicious By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said Monday that the fire that claimed the lives of a Byron mother and her young son has been ruled suspicious. Margaret “Maggie” Meyer, 31, and her son Amos Meyer, 3, died as a result of the fire which was reported the morning of Oct. 19. “The cause of the fire and their two deaths are being investigated by the Byron Police Department, Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police and
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B10 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A8 Marriage Licenses, A4
Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Reading Matters, A9 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning, B3
New Playground Brent Suter, park maintenance supervisor for the Oregon Park District, and Tyler Hagemann, horticulture maintenance supervisor, shovel cement for a footing for a playground feature on Friday. The new playground is being constructed behind the Oregon Elementary School where Project Play was located. A story appears on A2. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Deaths, B4 Marcelene Taylor Bentley, Neil E. Holland, Maxine Kriebel, Jerry D. Macklin
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com