Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
July 13, 2017 Volume 167, Number 32 - $1.00
BNC Familiar
Butterfly Release
Youths Pitch In
Familiar foes for the Hawks football team in this year’s Big Northern Conference. B1
Butterflies are released in memory of loved ones. A2
A youth group helps a Polo family spruce up their yard and paint their house. A8
Man charged with battery of an infant By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com A Polo man is in jail, charged with aggravated battery of a month and onehalf-old baby. Ian C. Green, 23, was charged with aggravated battery of a child, a Class X felony. The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Green was arrested June 7 after deputies, along with Dixon police, responded to KSB Ian C. Green Hospital, Dixon, where the infant was being treated for a broken arm. Further investigation indicated the child had eight broken bones in various stages of healing, and that the injuries had Firefighters work on getting a passenger car out of Pine Creek after it was swept across the first ford at White Pines been received at a Polo residence, according to the news reState Park after heavy rains caused flash flooding on July 5. Photo by Earleen Hinton lease. Green appeared Saturday in court where his bond was set at $200,000. At a court appearance Monday afternoon, Ogle County Judge Robert Hanson set a hearing for Friday afternoon. Green’s bond remains at $200,000 and he remains in Ogle County Jail.
Couple, dog rescued from creek Car swept from ford at White Pines State Park
Pontoon passengers file civil lawsuit in fatal boating crash
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com An Indiana couple and their dog were rescued from a flash flood last week at the White Pines State Park. Firefighters rescued Jim and Susan Inding, in their 60s, and their small dog from their car after it was swept off the first ford by floodwaters that rose rapidly in the Pine Creek July 5. Polo Fire Chief Tony Karrow said the Indings were camping at the park and left for a while. While they were gone, a cloudburst dumped heavy rain in the area bringing local streams up and out of their banks. Upon their return around
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
A Dixon firefighter holds a dog with a life vest while another firefighter works to rescue the two people from the car. Photo courtesy of Nick McPhail
7 p.m. the Indings found the water high but decided to drive through it anyway to get back to the campground. “We got two inches of rain in about 20 minutes,” Karrow said. “It just poured. The ford was probably two and a half feet deep when they tried to cross it. The water was coming through there at a pretty good clip.” He said firefighters got
Susan Inding and dog out of the car first, and then extricated Jim. Karrow praised the efforts of all the emergency crews who responded to the scene, especially Dixon Rural and Polo firefighters who did the actual rescue. “Everyone worked together as a team,” he said. “I’m really proud of them.” Also helping at the scene
were the Mt. Morris Fire Department, Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, and Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police. Karrow had a word of caution about driving through floodwaters. “When you’re told to avoid flooded roadways, take it seriously,” he said.
A second civil lawsuit has been filed against an Oregon man involved in a fatal boating crash a year ago. Phillip J. Lukes, 53, and Sherry M. Bushre, 60, a married couple from Chicago, filed an eightcount lawsuit against Marc Mongan, 47, Oregon, in Ogle County Court on June 29. Lukes and Bushre were passengers on a pontoon boat which was struck by a fishing boat operated by Mongan on June 24, 2016 on the Rock River approximately three
miles north of Oregon. Mongan’s boat came over the back of the pontoon boat striking Megan M. Wells, 31, Rockford, and throwing her overboard. She was pronounced dead at Swedish American Hospital, Rockford. Wells’ husband Robbie has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mongan, as well as pontoon board operator David Daily, 53, Leaf River, who is Megan’s uncle. Mongan has been charged with operating a watercraft while under the influence of Turn to A2
Polo brothers donate mom’s van to a disabled Marine By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com A wounded veteran went to Polo for dinner on Sunday, but ended up with a large donation benefiting himself and his family. United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal James Poggi, Somonauk, got a call last week from some friends with the Dogs of War Marine Veteran Motorcycle Club about coming to Chesty P’s, 104 E Mason St, for some dinner and a get-together. Unbeknownst to Poggi, however, friends had secretly arranged for a handicap van to be waiting for him, donated by brothers Jeff and Patrick Donaldson, Polo. Due to injuries suffered in 2010 while helping land a malfunctioning V-22 Osprey
helicopter in Afghanistan, Poggi developed spinal meningitis, rendering his left foot useless. The lower part of his left leg was amputated May 2, making everyday living and working a great challenge. Word of mouth and the love of friends, however, would come together to bring the family a timely boon. During U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller’s birthday celebration on June 24, the third such annual event hosted at Chesty P’s, Paul “Tango” Bowker supplied fliers in support of a veteran’s fundraiser and bike show coming up Aug. 19 in Belvidere. The fliers outlined hardships the Poggi family was suffering: their home was not accommodating
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to his mobility, requiring it to be sold, and the family vehicle was currently broken down. One of the men who read the flier was Polo Street Superintendent Kendall Kyker, who was no stranger to the sacrifice service brings; his stepson, USMC Staff Sergeant Justus Bartelt, was killed in Afghanistan on July 16, 2010. “I haven’t served myself, but my stepson did, and they all mean the world to me,” said Kyker. “If there’s any way I can help a Marine, I will.” Kyker immediately approached Bowker with a request: “Do you have time to take a three-block ride?” he asked, and the two made their way to Jeff Donaldson’s Jeff Donaldson, left, shows Marine veteran James Poggi some of the features in the 1999 Ford E-150 handicap van. The van belonged to Donaldson’s late mother, Betty, home. Turn to A2 and was donated to the Poggi family to help ease the financial burden of replacing
Business Briefs, B5 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
their family vehicle, currently out of commission. Photo by Zach Arbogast
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Property Transfers, B3 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning, B5
Deaths, B4 Charles R. Downer, Patricia C. Martin, Janene W. Meives, Gladys L. Osborne
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com