Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
February 2, 2017 Volume 167, Number 8 - $1.00
Bowlers Fifth
First Fridays
Chana School
The Lady Hawk’s finished in fifth at the tough Dixon Invitational Jan. 28. B1
The monthly music show will honor the memory of Ray Rose. A6
A historic school museum is in need of donations to pay for a new roof. A4
Byron Station’s value is $546M BOR upheld the assessment set last fall by assessor Jim Harrison By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Oregon Elementary’s Xaivier Cozka jump ropes as Jackson Dunnavan and Cameron Wellman twirl the rope during the annual Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser on Jan. 27. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Jumping for fun and heart health
By Earleen Hinton ehinton@oglecounty news.com Physical education students from the Oregon Elementary School were having fun jumping rope last week while raising money for the American Heart Association to help
battle heart disease. “Our students collected donations for the last three weeks. We use this event as a community service for our students,” said Lori Gipper, a PE teacher and one of the event’s organizers. “Last year we were the top school in Ogle County and the fifth
in our territory when we raised more than $14,000. Our goal this year was $15,000, but we should be a little over $16.000 this year.” OES students walked across Jefferson Street to the Oregon High School Turn to A2
Renovations bring in patrons By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The renovations at the Oregon Public Library are already proving popular with patrons. Library Director Andrew Dettman said the changes are already bringing in more people at every level. “People are coming in to read the papers and kids come in to do homework,” he said. “We’re getting more kids at Story Time.” One of the draws is a spacious elevator that stops at all three floors. “One mother had a double stroller, and there was plenty of room for it in the elevator,” he said. The addition of the elevator means the library is now complaint with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, something the board and
Turn to A7
Conover work is back on track By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Harvey Bos, Oregon, reads the Oregon Republican Reporter in the
Turn to A2 library’s fireplace room. Photo by Vinde Wells
uper peller Sixth grader successfully spells ‘scrumptiously,’ ‘burglarious’ By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecountynews.com The Oregon Elementary School Spelling Bee turned into a tense duel between two stellar spellers. Brandon Rowe was crowned champion of the 24th Scripps OES Etnyre Spelling Bee, but not before going 15 rounds with Abigail Rogers. A mix of fifth and sixth graders, 18 students in total, competed Jan. 25. Most were eliminated in round seven and fifth grader Owen Flanagan lasted until round nine, finishing in third place. After that, Rowe and Rogers went back and forth, until Rogers failed to spell “icarus” in round 15. Rowe got two in a row with “scrumptiously” and “burglarious,” taking home the win and a spot in the Regional Spelling Bee in Dixon on Feb. 23. What’s the secret to Rowe’s victory? “I just study a lot”
In This Week’s Edition...
A Byron school official voiced approval for a decision last week by the Ogle County Board of Review (BOR) to uphold the assessment set last fall for the Exelon’s Byron Generating Station. “We’re very satisfied with that,” said Byron School Superintendent James Hammack after the hearing on Jan. 26. The BOR voted to value the nuclear power station at $546 million, the amount set last fall by Ogle County Supervisor of Assessments Jim Harrison. That assessment affects the amount of real estate taxes paid in 2017. In its appeal of the assessment, Exelon Generation officials set the value of Byron Station at $295 million, slightly more than half of Harrison’s number. The Byron School District filed as an intervenor in the appeal. “We believe our legal firm does a fair assessment of the nuclear plant,” Hammack said. “We believe the $546 million is accurate.” Byron Station
Communications Manager Paul Dempsey said that Exelon is willing to pay its share of real estate taxes, although operating nuclear power stations has become more difficult. “We want to let people know that we remain committed to paying our fair share of taxes,” he said. “It continues to be a tough environment for nuclear plants as we’ve seen closures. We’ll continue to operate safely and efficiently and provide carbon-free power for northern Illinois and beyond.” Dempsey said that Exelon has made more than $20 million in philanthropic contributions and its employees volunteer their time to local projects. During arguments at the hearing, Exelon’s attorney Roger Lewis from Goldberg Kohn Ltd., Chicago, expressed surprise that Harrison had increased the value of the plant from the $482.4 million set by the BOR a year ago. “Those of us on the Exelon side were very shocked by the $68 million increase in the assessment of Byron Station,” he said. The value of the plant has
Sixth graders Brandon Rowe and Abigail Rogers finished first and second respectively at the OES Etnyre Spelling Bee. Photo by Zach Arbogast.
he said. “I was really excited to win; I couldn’t believe it happened when it was over.” Turn to A3
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6 Library News, A6
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3
A relatively simple solution has been found to get the Conover Square repair project back on track. Hands On Oregon (HOO) member Rick Ryland said Monday that repositioning the lift to make the repairs to the south wall of the building will satisfy safety regulations and save the $15,773 for a work agreement with ComEd to have the power turned off and on each day. Work will resume Feb. 6. “ComEd’s Milan Krpan gave the go ahead to proceed next Monday,” Ryland said. Due to a recent anonymous donation of $25,000, HOO had hired Tip Top Roofing, DeKalb, to repair the upper portion of the bowed-out south wall. The crew began the project Jan. 19, but the halted the following day when Ryland learned from ComEd representatives that they were too close to electric lines and must stop work while that was remedied. Workers on the lift were too close to overhead wires, which violated Occupational
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2
Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. By placing the lift parallel to the building instead of perpendicular and hugging the building as they progress along it, the crew will be far enough away from the wires to meet the regulations, Ryland said. “Milan has agreed to our new plan for the lift, and ComEd will now move the wires and insulate them [for the scaffolding]. This new plan will not be in violation of OSHA regulations,” he said. ”Hands On Oregon thanks the Lord for answering our prayers. We thank the mayor [Ken Williams] for standing with us on this project.,” Ryland said. “We thank especially Milan Krpan of ComEd for working this out. And we thank all the ComEd workers for insulating the lines. The wall at Conover will be fixed.” HOO, a not-for-profit, was formed in 2015 with the purpose of enriching the lives of Oregon citizens through local caring and creating excitement through volunteerism. Conover is its first project.
Deaths, B4 Allen L. Gale, Edna H. Groenewold, Sharon V. Huttunen, G. Gordon Landry, Lois H. Miller, Rita Mae Prentice, David E. Proud
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com