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Serving Lee, Whiteside, Carroll, Ogle and Bureau counties Saturday&Sunday, May 28-29, 2016 n $2.00
Class 2A boys qualify for finals in 8 events STATE TRACK COVERAGE, B4-6
CELEBRATING OUR SENIORS SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE
ROCK FALLS | POLICE DETECTIVE CHARGED
Embattled officer resigns
MEMORIAL DAY COVERAGE
Computerized evidence system on the way in wake of Jaramillo’s arrest BY ANGEL SIERRA asierra@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5695 @_angelsierra
Detective Sgt. Veronica Jaramillo Accused of stealing $1,741 from the department’s evidence vault
ROCK FALLS – Change is coming to the way Rock Falls Police stores and logs evidence in the wake of recent felony charges against a former senior officer. Detective Sgt. Veronica Jaramillo, 43, of Sterling, resigned Friday. In a couple of months, a new bar code-based digital inventory will be installed to enhance evidence tracking, and move away from written entries, Chief Tammy Nelson
said. It will cost less than $10,000; Sterling Police have a similar system. Jaramillo was arrested May 17 and charged with official misconduct and theft for stealing $1,741 from the evidence vault, to which she had a key, and using some of it to pay utility bills, according to Whiteside County Court records and testimony from a May 19 hearing. She is free on $20,000 bond; a preliminary hearing is June 6. Jaramillo was the lead investigator in the Dec. 6 death of Paul Rodney Depotter, 27, of Rock Falls,
who died of a fatal heroin overdose. According to police documents sent to Sauk Valley Media by his mother, Penny Depotter, 46, of Dixon, $1,741 was found on Depotter’s body in his Rock Falls apartment that day and entered into evidence. Jaramillo had an 11-year career punctuated by radiant reviews and exceptional police work, the chief said, and was promoted to sergeant and assigned to the detective division in October 2014. RESIGNS continued on A24
WEEKEND FEATURE | FRANKLIN GROVE
Home is where the water is
Today n Historic war veterans in Dixon are receiving the “star” treatment for Memorial Day, marking the conclusion of a 5-year project. Page A5 n What Sauk Valley communities have planned to commemorate Memorial Day. Pages A12-14
Tuesday n Coverage from Monday’s Memorial Day events.
No paper on Memorial Day Just a reminder that there will be no paper Monday because of the holiday, and Sauk Valley Media offices will be closed. We will resume our normal publication schedule Tuesday.
THE WORKPLACE
Employers huddle on overtime rules shift BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Elaine Knobloch of Valmeyer Community Heritage Society helps construct an exhibit Tuesday at the Grist Mill in the Franklin Creek State Natural Area. The Water/Ways exhibit, on loan from the Smithsonian Institute, will be on display beginning today. The Franklin Grove site is one of six in the state that will have the traveling exhibit. It will be in Valmeyer, about 25 miles south of St. Louis, in October.
Franklin Creek Grist Mill to host Smithsonian exhibit BY RACHEL RODGERS rrodgers@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5529 @rj_rodgers
FRANKLIN GROVE – The Franklin Grove Creek and Preservation Corp. is one of three locations across the nation debuting a new traveling Smithsonian exhibit today. The Grist Mill, in the Franklin Creek State Natural Area, is hosting Water/Ways, an exhibit that focuses on the relationships between people and water devel-
Scattered T-storms
VOLUME 8 ISSUE 39 60 Pages
Today: 81/65 For the forecast, see Page A15
oped by the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. The site is one of six areas throughout the state chosen by Illinois Humanities to accommodate the exhibit at different intervals through 2017. Franklin Creek has first dibs. “Water is an extremely important topic, and it is critical to all life,” said Donna Ducharme, chairwoman of the preservation board.
Franklin Grove Creek and Preservation Corp. board member Jeff Schlesinger (left) and Chris Walls of the Science Center of Carbondale move a piece of WATER continued on A34 the Water/Ways Smithsonian exhibit into place.
Business
Country Girl Boutique has fun, funky clothing in its Mount Carroll shop. See Page C1
Community Honor Flight veterans paid tribute to fallen comrades during a recent trip to Washington, D.C. A photo page recounts the journey. See Page C12
Bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate and House that aim to block a new federal labor rule that could make an additional 4.2 million salaried workers eligible for overtime pay. The Department of Labor announced May 17 that the rule governing overtime exemptions had been finalized. The salary threshold for overtime pay was raised for the first time since 2004, so instead of a gradual increase, businesses are now looking at a doubling of the level. The new rule means that every salaried worker earning less than $47,476 will be eligible for overtime pay, regardless of their duties. The old rule exempted salaried workers making more than $23,660 a year. The increases are computed in the same manner – they are still based on the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers in the nation’s lowest income region, which now is the South. OVERTIME continued on A74
Index Births................. C5
Lottery............... A2
Business............ C1
Markets........... A15
Classified........... D9
Obituaries.......... A4
Comics....B10, B13
Opinion.............. A8
Community...... C12
Scoreboard..... B14
Crossword Saturday.......... D12
Scrapbook........ C3
Crossword Sunday.............. C8
Support groups... C5
Dave Ramsey.... C1
Weather........... A15
Dear Abby......... C6
Wheels............ B16
Sports............... B1 Travel............... C10