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Rock Falls catcher is TIME FOR PLAN B ON Player of the Year LAWRENCE BUILDING? LOCAL, A3
SVM ALL-AREA BASEBALL, B1
CRIME | SAUK VALLEY
Ex-cop faces drug charges Former Rock Falls detective indicted; three others, including sister’s boyfriend, also charged BY ANGEL SIERRA asierra@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5695 @_angelsierra
Veronica Jaramillo Details about the charges against the former detective will be released Monday, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Attorney General’s office said.
DIXON – The former Rock Falls detective accused of stealing money from an evidence vault now is entangled with at least three others in a purported 2-year, 2-county drug conspiracy. Veronica Jaramillo, 43, of Sterling, Jody Canas, 44, of Sterling, Lynn Robinett, 45, of Dixon, and Rickey Richardson, 52, of Harmon, all have been indicted, the Illinois Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case, said Friday. Eileen Boyce, a spokeswoman for the office, said information on the charges against Jaramillo, Robinett and Richardson, and other details, would be released Monday.
But court records for Canas, made available Friday, show that Canas, whose livein girlfriend is Jaramillo’s sister, Violeta “Violet” Jaramillo, 46, has been indicted by a state grand jury on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (more than 15 grams but less than 100 grams of cocaine), and delivery of a controlled substance (more than 15 grams but less than 100 grams of cocaine), each punishable by 6 to 30 years in prison. Canas also is charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance (more than 5 grams but less than 15 grams of cocaine), each punishable by 4 to 15 years; possession of marijuana with intent to deliver (more than 500 grams but less than 2,000 grams), punishable by 3 to 7 years; and conspiracy (posses-
sion of marijuana with intent to deliver; more than 500 grams but less than 2,000 grams), punishable by 2 to 5 years. He is being held at the Lee County Jail on $200,000 bond. His attorney, Allison B. Fagerman, is seeking a bond reduction; a hearing is scheduled for July 11. If Canas bonds out, he must not have any contact with the co-defendants above, with Violet Jaramillo, or with Kathy Green, Roderick Coy, Oscar Canas, Austin Wheeler, Brandon Carter, Benjamin Franque, and Courtney Fritz (Carter), all also described as co-defendants, court records show. Canas was indicted on June 10. Assistant Attorney General John Kezdy is prosecuting. DRUG continued on A54
THE PEOPLE’S VOICE | THE FISHER FAMILY, AMBOY
Jody Canas The live-in boyfriend of Violeta Jaramillo has been indicted on six drug-related charges and is being held at the Lee County Jail on $200,000 bond.
STATE BUDGET| LOCAL SCHOOLS
It’s all systems go for fall But how long can schools stay open without state budget? BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 CHeimerman_SVM
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
The Fisher family (from left), Dani, 35, Braelyn, 4, Cai, 1, Sean, 37, and Arya, 2, are an improbable family, indeed. Dani and Jeff were told for years they would not be able to have kids.
A ‘great life’ worth waiting for christopher HEIMERMAN Heimerman is the Enterprise Projects Editor at Sauk Valley Media. He can be reached at cheimerman@ saukvalley. com or 815-625-3600, ext. 5523.
Amboy couple reflect on life before kids – whom they were told they’d never have AMBOY – Dani and Jeff Fisher wanted to be parents so badly. Told they couldn’t, they did what any logical couple would do. They moved to Montana. “We figured, ‘If we can’t have kids, we might as well go enjoy another part of the country,’” said Jeff, 37. “It sounds selfish, but we focused on us,” said Dani, 35.
Partly cloudy
VOLUME 8 ISSUE 43 40 Pages
Today: 88/72 For the forecast, see Page A13
“We’d spend days at the ball field playing softball, spent time with our friends floating down the river and going to listen to music.” They found out Jeff’s insurance would cover in vitro fertilization. Great news, right? Not if they had to foot the bill before being reimbursed. “We didn’t have $10,000 sit-
Business
Bugaboo’s Day Care and Learning Center opens in Amboy. See Page C1
ting around, so we just decided to put it on hold,” Dani said. They emailed all their close friends and family, letting them know they were going to stop actively trying, and put it in God’s hands. Three months later, voila. Dani was pregnant. PEOPLE’S VOICE continued on A104
Community Polo Town and Country Days were wet and wild and fun. Photographers from SVM paid the festival a visit and share their photos. See Page C12
Public schools in Chicago are threatening to keep their doors closed, if the state doesn’t commit to funding for the 2016-17 school year. No districts in the Sauk Valley have made such a declaration. Some have taken a markedly different Tad stance, in fact. Everett Tad Everett, superintendent of Sterling Public Schools, said refusing to open on time this fall is not a consideration. “Personally, I don’t want to be making political statements on the backs of our staff and their families and their livelihood, as well as our students,” Everett said. His is a district that just cut seven teaching positions, as well as programs, coaches and more, to balance its budget for a fourth straight year. Still, only after it found a new insurance provider did a balanced budget become likely, and the district had about $1.6 million in reserves – about 40 days’ worth of cash on hand – when those cuts were made March 30. SYSTEMS continued on A84
Index Births................. C5
Lottery............... A2
Business............ C1
Markets........... A13
Classified........... B9
Obituaries.......... A4
Comics.............. B8
Opinion.............. A6
Community...... C12
Scoreboard....... B7
Crossword Saturday.......... B13
Scrapbook........ C3
Crossword Sunday.............. C8
Support groups... C5
Dave Ramsey.... C1
Weather........... A13
Dear Abby......... C6
Wheels............ B14
Sports............... B1 Travel............... C10