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Serving the Polo Area Since 1857

POLO

Tri-County Press January 30, 2014 Volume 156, Number 19 - $1.00

Tenth Place

Antique Market

Television Visit

The Oregon Hawk bowlers finished in 10th place at the tough Boylan Sectional. B1

Antiques and collectibles will be up for sale Feb. 1 in Mt. Morris. A7

Members of Pack 337 visited WIFR Channel 23 in Rockford Jan. 14. A3

Teams experienced All Star treatment at OHS By Chris Johnson Reporter

welcomed the two teams to their school for this annual basketball game. Both teams went back and forth in the scoring, and the students cheered every play. When a player missed a shot, their opponents would sometimes hand them the ball so they could try the shot

again. For the members of both teams, the game is a chance Members of the Village of to show their skills in front of Progress All Stars and Ogle an audience that is supportive County All Stars soaked in and cheering them on. the energy Jan. 24 when the “This is my favorite day of two teams met on the court. the year,� said OHS principal The Oregon High School Andrew Nelson. “I absolutely students and faculty love this day because everyone is supportive.� Nelson said the game has been played for four years and is a highlight of the school year. For the students, it is a chance to get to know the athletes of the Village of Progress and Ogle County Educational Coop. “This is a fun experience for everyone,� said OHS senior Josh Drew. “The best part is knowing how much fun the athletes are having out there.� Drew volunteered as a Members of the crowd held signs up to support the Turn to B1 teams. Photo by Chris Johnson

VOP All Star John Miller puts up a jump shot Friday morning. Photo by Chris Johnson

Propane supply emergency declared in Illinois By Vinde Wells Editor A propane supply emergency was declared Monday in the state of Illinois. According to a press release, Gov. Pat Quinn declared the emergency in the wake of distribution problems around the state. Damp fall weather and recent cold temperatures are being blamed. With demand for propane surging, its price is skyrocketing — and less of it is available for local customers. In recent days, the pergallon price for propane has nearly doubled to more than $3.60 in Ogle County and the

surrounding area. With cold temperatures continuing, experts expect the trend to continue. Mike Faivre, president of Burkardt’s LP Gas, Polo, said last week that his company usually gets its propane from pipelines in Tampico and Rockford, but now companies are allocated only so much because of limited supplies. During the winter, he said, his company typically gets three to five semi-truck loads a day. Now, its lucky to just get one. “We’re short-filling people, limiting the amount of gallons they get,� Faivre said, adding, “Our customers are being taken care of.� How much they get, he

Large propane tanks are located at Burkardt’s LR Gas substation at the intersection of Ill. 72 and Pecatonica Road two miles east of Leaf River. Photo by Vinde Wells

said, depends on their usage, but the rule of thumb is that the company gives enough to get a customer by for a month. Because the company is giving limited amounts to customers, it’s making twice as many deliveries, he said.

“We’ve been working 14 to 15 hours a day for the last month, six days a week. That’s what we’ve had to do to keep up with the cold weather,� Faivre said. “We’ve been in business for 32 years, and it’s never been like this.�

A Texas man trying to deliver a newly repaired single-engine airplane to Janesville, Wis., suffered only minor injuries when his 1984 Cessna crashed Jan. 25 in a farm field east of Forreston. Pilot Fred H. Rose, 75, Spring Branch, Texas, was transported by Forreston ambulance to FHN Memorial Hospital, Freeport, for treatment of minor injuries. “He had a bump on the head,� said Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn. Rose flew out of Texas around 6 a.m. that morning bound for Janesville, Harn said. The plane, which is registered to Gelbach Aviation, Janesville, had a

new engine installed in Texas, the sheriff said. Rose refueled in Joplin, Mo., around 10:45 a.m. and told authorities that the engine locked up south of Forreston. “He was gliding around looking for a place to land,� Harn said. “He thought it was a mechanical failure.� Rose was able to put the plane down in the snow in a field along Ill. 72 just west of Cherry Road, four miles east of Forreston. The crash occurred around 2:15 p.m. Deputies on the scene said an undetermined fluid was leaking from the plane. The Forreston Fire Department assisted at the scene. Harn said Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.

In This Week’s Edition...

Carroll Service Company, which serves numerous customers in western Ogle County, has been unable to get enough propane from its usual suppliers in Tampico and Rockford. “We’ve been unable to get an adequate supply locally,� Woessner said. “We’ve had to resort to transporting it from Kansas and Louisiana.� So far, the firm hasn’t had to short-fill customers. “We’ve been able to supply our customers,� he said. Many Carroll Service Company customers won’t feel the cost-pinch immediately because they signed contracts which locked in prices months ago. Turn to A3

Sub zero temps blanket Ogle

Pilot escapes a crash unharmed By Vinde Wells Editor

All of Burkardt’s customers have their prices locked in because of prewinter agreements, so the price spike won’t affect them, Faivre said. Ray Woessner, general manager at Carroll Service Company, Lanark, said Monday that the problem was accelerated last fall when more propane than usual was used to dry the corn crop, coupled with more being used for residential and commercial heating due to colder than normal temperatures in October, November, and December. “This didn’t start in January,� he said. “I anticipate we will continue to have these problems as long as the cold weather persists.�

By Vinde Wells Editor Sub zero temperatures coupled with strong winds resulted in the closure of all school districts in Ogle County on Monday. Also closed were all Ogle County governmental offices and the Rock River Center in Oregon and Polo Senior Center. The school closures continued into Tuesday when the mercury plummeted to -18 with wind chills estimated in the -40 range. School children across the county have been out of school for five days this A single engine plane owned by a Janesville, Wis., firm month, mainly due to frigid crashed Saturday in a field four miles east of Forreston. temperatures. The pilot Fred H. Rose, 75, Spring Branch, Texas, Ogle County Sheriff’s suffered minor injuries. Photo by Vinde Wells Police had their hands full

Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4

Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B6 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3

Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A2

Monday morning with dozens of vehicles in the ditches and abandoned on roadways during Sunday night’s near blizzard conditions. Sheriff Michael Harn estimated that 70 vehicles were left behind when their occupants got stuck on drifting roads in white-out conditions Sunday evening into Monday morning. “A lot of cars were abandoned on the road,� Harn said. “They [drivers] couldn’t tell where they were and they were able to get a ride and left the car behind. The north-south roads were the worst — the wind was straight out of the west.� Deputies closed Ill. 26 at Montague Road north of Forreston periodically for at Turn to A3

Deaths, B3

Richard H. Bourdage, Wayne H. Brantner, Margaret Lois Cline, Elinor Merdian, Glenn O. Mueller

0UBLISHED EVERY 4HURSDAY BY /GLE #OUNTY .EWSPAPERS A DIVISION OF 3HAW -EDIA s WWW OGLECOUNTYNEWS COM


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