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Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon, Newman previews GIRLS BASKETBALL, B3
LEVY HIKE HEARING ON TAP LOCAL, IN ROCK FALLS A4
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL | CLASS 1A STATE TOURNAMENT
All set to repeat Eastland plays for 2nd consecutive state title today STAFF REPORT news@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5501
NORMAL – The Eastland High School volleyball team will play for its fourth state title and second in a row today, after an exciting 25-22, 25-27, 25-18 win over Stewardson-Strasburg in Friday’s Class 1A semifinal. Senior hitter Makenzie Fink had 27 kills, including five for
Eastland’s last five points. The Cougars held off a late Stewardson-Strasburg rally in the first set and were within a point of winning the second before the Hatchets rallied back from a 24-19 deficit to win the set. Eastland pulled away early and won the third set. Eastland will face West Prairie in the state championship
game at 10:30 a.m. today at Redbird Arena. Last year, Eastland captured the Class 1A state title in 30-year coach Kristy Pierce’s final game, defeating Cissna Park, 25-16, 25-16. Eastland won earlier state Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com titles in 2008 and 2009. n See Sports, pages B1, B4 Members of the Eastland volleyball team gather at midcourt to and B5, for coverage of East- celebrate Friday’s Class 1A state semifinal victory over Stewardson-Strasburg at Redbird Arena in Normal. land’s semifinal victory.
VETERANS DAY 2016
LEE COUNTY
Region salutes its heroes
The dispute over cold, hard ‘facts’ Motions filed so far in a 1983 murder case give a glimpse into the process, fill in some of the blanks BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10
Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com
A veteran salutes the American flag Friday morning while taps is played during the Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park in Rock Falls. The Rock Falls American Legion Post 902 and Rock Falls VFW Post 5418 had their annual ceremony, which included a color guard, a rifle salute and a speaker. Afterward, Legionnaires and VFW members visited veterans at area nursing homes. LEFT: Dixon Mayor Li Arellano Jr. speaks at Veterans Memorial Park in Dixon Friday morning in recognition of Veterans Day. Arellano himself served in Iraq. RIGHT: After asking veterans in attendance to introduce themselves, kindergarteners from AFC Elementary School in Franklin Grove present the men and women with drawings made for them. For more Veterans Day photos, please turn to page A3.
Sunny
VOLUME 9 ISSUE 11 36 Pages
Today: 51/30 For the forecast, see Page A11
Photos (left and above) by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Business
Sterling Gardens owners grow their business from the ground up. See Page C1
Community With the end of the high school volleyball season, the SVM photo team takes a look back at how players always tried to keep their eyes on the ball. See Page C12
DIXON – Any attorney will tell you, when you’re dealing with the murder of a drug dealer, by a drug dealer, your witnesses aren’t likely to be stalwart citizens. When that murder is 30 years cold, the evidence, the forensics, the memories – they all get called into question, too. Such is the case in the death of Gary Dawson, who was 30 when he was bound with duct tape and beaten to death in Peoria, his broken and bloody body dropped in a filthy hog pen 100 miles away. He was killed, prosecutors and witnesses say, by two thugs and the dealer who hired them. The motive: The dealer’s brother owed Dawson a drug debt of more than $90,000, and Dawson thought the dealer should pay his brother’s bill. The twist: The accused brother hit men are facing life, while the dealer, who may have done some of the fatal beating himself, is looking at probation only – his reward for ratting them out. That’s the drama unfolding in an investigation more than 3 decades running, in complicated court documents filed in a case so cold the victim now has been dead longer than he was alive. Three men – Dawson’s rival drug dealer, Steven Watts, and brothers Gordon “Kent” and Terry Bobell – are charged with murdering Dawson more than 33 years ago, on Aug. 28, 1983. COLD CASE continued on A94
Index Births................. C5
Lottery............... A2
Business............ C1
Markets........... A11
Classified........... B7
Obituaries.......... A4
Comics.............. A8
Opinion.............. A6
Community...... C12
Scoreboard....... B6
Crossword Saturday............ B9
Scrapbook........ C3
Crossword Sunday.............. C8
Support groups... C5
Dave Ramsey.... C1
Weather........... A11
Dear Abby......... C6
Wheels............ B12
Sports............... B1 Travel............... C10