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Serving the Polo Area Since 1857

POLO

Tri-County Press March 6, 2014 Volume 156, Number 24 - $1.00

Season Concludes

Spring Ahead

Budget Cuts

Despite a rally in the third quarter, the Polo Marcos season ended last week. B1

Set your clocks one hour ahead at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 9.

Byron and Meridian Schools announce large cuts to balance the budget. A3

Snow did not deter the determined toy shoppers By Vinde Wells Editor Farm animals, farm potholders, and of course, farm toys, along with antique dolls, cars, homemade pies, and even rope-making were all part of the annual Farm Toy Show March 1 at Polo High School. Despite an impending snowstorm, nearly 400 people turned out for the annual event sponsored by the Polo Lions Club. “I was real pleased with the number of people who came, especially with the threat of Don Vock finds just the right pie for a customer at the snow,� said Irene Short, one Knights of Columbus stand at the Polo Farm Toy Show of the organizers of the show. Codey Dunbar, Polo, and his father Corey look over a display of toy trucks at the Farm March 1. Photo by Vinde Wells Turn to A3 Toy Show March 1. Photo by Vinde Wells

Three candidates are running for sheriff’s post Ogle County voters have three candidates to choose from for sheriff in the March 18 Republican primary election. Sheriff Michael Harn, Forreston, is being challenged by two other law enforcement officers in his bid for his party’s nomination for another term. Also seeking the Republican Party nomination are Joe Drought and Brian

VanVickle, both of Rochelle. All three are long-time residents of Ogle County, and all three are currently working as police officers. The successful candidate will likely run unopposed for sheriff in the Nov. 4 general election as no Democrats have filed for the seat. The duties of the sheriff in Ogle County are

By Vinde Wells Editor

got there and I am proud of each and every person who has helped us achieve so much in such a short period of time,� he said. The department has faced operating on a budget rolled back to 2007 levels and Harn said he has cut spending even further, spending $1.3 million less than budgeted over the last three years. “When I became sheriff, the office needed to be Turn to B3

All three candidates favor the construction of a new sheriff’s administration building as soon as possible.

By Vinde Wells Editor

By Vinde Wells Editor Brian VanVickle, 37, is currently the K-9 officer for the Rochelle Police Department. He has been an officer there since 2009. VanVickle also has 13 years of management experience in the private sector where his responsibilities included budgeting, inventory controls, scheduling, personnel, and training. He holds a degree in business and will complete a second degree in public administration with a minor in emergency management this spring. As an employee with the City of Rochelle he was tasked with the bidding process for vehicle purchases as well as bidding contracts for vehicle maintenance.

The sheriff supervises 84 employees and oversees three budgets: the Sheriff’s Department, Corrections, and Buildings & Grounds. In 2014, budgeted expenditures for the three total close to $7 million.

Joe Drought

Brian VanVickle

Michael Harn Michael Harn, 52, has 29 years of service in the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department, including the last three as sheriff. Harn was elected in 2010, defeating incumbent Greg Beitel in the March primary election for the Republican Party nomination and running without opposition in the November general election. Harn said his major accomplishments during his term have been more arrests and cutting costs. The major issue Harn said he has faced as sheriff is improving department performance with a vastly reduced budget. “This has not been easy and not all employees have been happy with me, but we

numerous and varied. Besides the law enforcement responsibilities that go with the job, the sheriff is in charge of the jail and, in Ogle County, manages the buildings and property owned by the county, including the judicial center, courthouse, sheriff’s office, jail, Pines Road Annex, all in Oregon, and Focus House, just outside of Rochelle.

In addition, as an elected member of the Rochelle High School Board he is involved with overseeing a budget of $14 million. VanVickle said he believes his experience makes him well-equipped to manage the budgets and personnel as sheriff. “My experience is what sets me apart from the other candidates,� he said. “I am the only candidate with the Turn to B3

Joe Drought, 50, is currently the Chief of Police at Rock Valley College, Rockford, a position he has held for 17 years. He has been in law enforcement for the past 32 years, first in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps, where he served for nine years. Seven and a half of those years were on active duty, and a year and a half was in the Reserves. Drought served in a variety of duty assignments, including patrolman, patrol supervisor, squad leader, investigator, intelligence section sergeant, and explosive detector dog handler. “I am the only candidate who has enforced laws on three continents, as I served

as an MP here in the United States, as well as in South Korea and Germany,� he said. After leaving the Army, Drought was hired by the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department where he served for more than three years as a deputy, detective, and K-9 handler (drug detection) under the leadership of then Sheriff Mel Messer. He left the Sheriff’s Turn to B3

PCHS will perform in March In honor of the 75th anniversary of the film “The Wizard of Oz,� Polo Community High School will present the play “Glinda of Oz.� Performances will be held Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15 at 7 p.m. in the high school gym with a special children’s Breakfast with Glinda on March 15 at 9 a.m. breakfast and curtain at 10 a.m. The play is based on L. Frank Baum’s book “Glinda of Oz� and was adapted for

the stage by the director Beth Wiegmann. The beloved characters are still alive and well in Oz. The cast of 18 along with a large back stage crew represents a cross-section of the PCHS student body. This was Baum’s last book and was published after his death in 1919. Baum referred to himself as the Royal Historian of Oz. In this book Baum looks in on Glinda the Good, who was a friend of Princess Ozma of the Emerald City and

In This Week’s Edition...

Dorothy of Kansas. Princess Ozma gets word that some of her subjects are considering going to war with each other, which she has outlawed. She and Dorothy set out to meet with them and prevent the scuffle. They become trapped and Glinda along with the delightful Oz characters must find a way to save them. Ticket prices are as follows: evening performance - adults, $5; students (K-12) and senior citizens (65 and older),

Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6

$3; breakfast performance – adults; $7; all others, $5. All children must be escorted by an adult. The breakfast performance will include a light breakfast of muffins and juice, an opportunity to meet selected cast members, and get autographs before the performance. For any performances call the high school office for reservations at 815-9463314, or stop by the high Polo High School students Karissa McMahon, Jessica Conway, and Mason Rhodes paint posters for the play school to pick up tickets.

Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A7-A8 Property Transfers, B6 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3

“Glinda of Oz.� Photo supplied

Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5 Zoning Permits, B4

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

Deaths, A10 Jerome P. Beck, Lois E. Myers, Edmund S. Sowa


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