Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO Wrestlers Advance Three Polo-Forreston wrestlers advanced to the Feb. 12-13 Princeton Sectional. B1
Toy Shows
Tri-County Press February 11, 2016 Volume 158, Number 42 - $1.00
Primary Election
Mark the calendars for two local farm toy shows in March. A2
Early voting and voter registration is underway at the Ogle County Courthouse. A9
NICIL closes Oregon office By Jermaine Pigee jpigee@saukvalley.com The budget battle in Springfield has claimed another casualty, and the fallout will impact dozens of disabled residents in the Oregon area. The Northwestern Illinois Center for Independent Living will shut down its Oregon branch office at the Rock River Center, 810 S. 10th St., effective March 1. “It is with great sadness that we find it necessary to close this office due to the Illinois budget impasse,” NICIL Executive Director Michele Miller said in a press release last week. “It is one more loss for people with disabilities due to political jockeying,” NICIL provides services for the disabled and caregiver training. “We will still be able to deliver services in the five counties that we serve, we just won’t have that location,” Miller said. “It was convenient for customers to come to that office because we could meet in private. Now, they will have to come to Sterling to meet with us, or arrange to meet in the community they live in.” NICIL’s central office in Sterling is at 412 Locust St. Like many social service agencies in Illinois, NICIL has been swimming hard against the tide of uncertainty and lack of funding. NICIL has 250 clients, Miller said. Roughly 30 to 40 will be directly affected by the closing of the Oregon office “This is not a decision that the board of directors has come to lightly,” NICIL Board President Mary Mahan-Deatherage said in
Michelle Miller
the release. “We have been monitoring this situation for more than a year. Michele and her staff have worked diligently and economically to keep services at their maximum level.” This isn’t the first time NICIL has had to make hard choices. In July, four staff members were cut from the Oregon and Sterling offices. The one remaining staff member left in Oregon will work out of the Sterling office. “It makes it really difficult to communicate with customers,” Miller said. Miller also said because of the budget impasse, her staff members are not able to travel as much, meaning it may be a month before they can visit someone. “When we had the regular office, we were there so we could see them,” Miller said. NICIL opened in 1985 and has continued without interruption to serve people with disabilities and their families in Northwestern Illinois counties of Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside. For more information, call NICIL at 815-625-7860 or visit www.nicil.org.
February Finds Kathy Knutti, Mt. Morris, takes a close look at a figurine offered Feb. 6 at the February Finds antiques and collectible market at the Mt. Morris Moose Family Center. Photo by Vinde Wells
Council wants garage cleaned up By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com For the last three meetings, Polo aldermen have voiced concern over a collapsed garage on Mason Street. Phil Peterson asked again Feb. 1 if anything has been done about Mike Witmer’s garage at 412 E. Mason St., which he said poses a safety hazard. The garage collapsed
several months ago but has not yet been cleaned up. Peterson said he has received complaints from neighbors and is concerned that someone could be injured. City clerk Susie Corbitt said building inspector Casper Manheim sent Witmer a certified letter Dec. 15 advising him that the garage rubble must be removed. The letter gave Witmer seven days to respond.
Manheim then made follow-up contact with Witmer on Jan. 2 and Jan. 29. Corbitt said Tuesday that Manheim has been in contact with Witmer again in the last few days. Witmer’s garage was one of three properties discussed by the council Jan. 4. In other business Feb. 1, alderman Randy Schoon praised the efforts of the city’s water and sewer employees when a water main broke Jan.
30. He said a sewer main in the same area had been repaired many years ago with concrete, which impeded city workers from getting to the water main break. With the help of street department employees, the crew worked until 8 p.m. to break out the concrete and then repair the leak. “I can’t say enough good about those guys — all four of them,” Schoon said.
New Leaf River shop offers hand made creations By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Owning her own shop was a dream Donna Kuntzelman nurtured for 27 years. It came true a year and a half ago when she opened Chatty Lady Creations, a flower and unique gift shop, in the River Valley Complex in Leaf River. “Scott and I went to Galena on our honeymoon and I saw a little shop there,” Kuntzelman, 49, said. “I said someday I’m going to have my own shop.” After working several years as a lab technician, Kuntzelman was ready for a change and saw a help wanted ad for County Market. Her boss quickly recognized her natural talent and gave her a job in the flower shop — a perfect fit. Soon she was doing orders at home and decided the time had come to fulfill her dream. Kuntzelman opened her
shop featuring flowers and much more in July of 2014. Besides floral arrangements and plants, Kuntzelman offers balloon bouquets, candy bouquets, gift baskets, Ravens Brew coffee, gourmet chocolate boxes, gift wrapping, and her own one-of-kind gifts and customized decorating. One of her specialties is making figures or “dolls,” as she calls them, from paper clay. For example, for a special order at Christmas she created a Walter Peyton figure, complete with a head band and Bears uniform. Kuntzelman said she enjoys the challenge of designing and creating something she’s never tried before. “I never tell anyone no. I love to make anything,” she said. “There’s nothing like seeing someone’s reaction to something you did.” Another customer brought her two old cupboard doors
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that she transformed into decorative pieces. Kuntzelman said she especially likes the Edwardian era, as evidenced by the cell phone boxes she turns into vintage keepsake boxes that look to date back to the early 1900s. Currently the shop is open three day a week, but since it’s just two blocks from her home, Kuntzelman said she can easily open almost anytime. “If somebody calls, in two minutes I can be here,” she said. Her business is definitely picking up steam. “I’ve got two weddings coming up in April, and I’m taking orders for Valentine’s Day,” she said. The shop, in the north end of the River Valley Complex, the former Leaf River School at 605 Main St., will be open on Valentine’s Day to accommodate customers. The shop’s regular hours are Thursday, Friday, and
Byron Police, B4 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
This smiling leprechaun is just one of the figures made by Kuntzelman. Photo by Vinde Wells
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. In the near future, Kuntzelman plans to add a coffee shop on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. She can be reached at 815738-2938 or 815-222-7238. The shop’s website will soon be up and running, and Donna Kuntzelman puts the finishing touches on one the some items can currently be paper clay dolls she has made in her shop. Photo by accessed on Etsy. Vinde Wells
Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Zoning Permits, B4
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B4-B5 Gladys M. Appel Flora Jean Samuel Judith K. Snook