Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO
Tri-County Press April 9, 2015 Volume 157, Number 29 - $1.00
Winning Ways
What’s Cookin’
Bird Walks
The baseball and softball teams have been posting wins early in the spring season. B1
Teams are still needed for the annual May 2 cooking competition. A6
The Audubon Society is planning several spring bird walks at stateline areas. A6
Election day glitches keep officials busy By Vinde Wells Editor Unusual situations in two polling places Tuesday morning meant making some quick decisions. A ballot glitch in two Polo City Council wards put election officials to work changing voter instructions, while to the north a candidate for Leaf River Village President arrived at the polling place only to find he was not registered to vote. Ogle County Clerk Rebecca Huntley said the ballot for Polo’s Wards 1 and 3 incorrectly said “vote for two,” when it should have said “vote for one.” With two candidates running in each race for one John Cavanaugh feeds his ballot into the counting machine while election judge Terry Pearson watches Tuesday at the Polo Senior Center, the Buffalo Township polling place. The voter turnout was high in mid-morning. Photo by Vinde Wells
Golf carts may be allowed if ordinance is approved By Vinde Wells Editor Golf carts and Gators may soon be commonplace on Polo streets. The city council heard the first reading Monday night of a new ordinance that would allow golf carts and utility task vehicles (UTVs) to be operated on the streets, a practice currently prohibited. The vote on the ordinance could come on April 20. The council and its Police and Ordinance Committees have been discussing the proposed ordinance for several months, after aldermen received numerous requests from residents. The proposed ordinance does not, however, permit allterrain vehicles (ATVs) on public streets. Provisions in the ordinance
require that anyone operating a golf cart or UTV on a city street must be 21 or older, have a driver’s license and proof of insurance, and a city permit. The vehicles must have certain equipment, including a horn and proper lighting, and can be operated on the streets only from sunrise to sunset. The city permits, which will initially cost $25 each, will be valid only from April 1 to Nov. 1. According to the ordinance, the vehicles are limited to a maximum of 30 mph except where the speed limit is less. Certain streets will be offlimits. Polo resident Randy Wagner asked if he could operate his UTV in the winter months when it is equipped with a snowplow to get
between jobs. Police officer Shawn Knight said that would be allowed. In another matter, Mayor Doug Knapp proclaimed April as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the city. He said members of the Polo Evening Women’s Club will place pinwheels at Paul’s Park on Friday morning to commemorate the event. In other business the council: • was advised by attorney Tom Suits that an application has been filed for a demolition permit for the old Polo Hotel, • learned that landscape waste pick-up started Monday, • learned that applications for lifeguard jobs for the city pool are available at the city hall. The deadline for turning them back in is Wednesday, April 22.
One-time event planned June 27 By Vinde Wells Editor
The Polo Liquor Code may be amended to allow a onetime event that could bring hundreds of Marines to town this summer. The council discussed the first reading of the amendment Monday night which would allow local bars to have a two-block long beer garden in the downtown on Saturday, June 27 to celebrate the 117th birthday of Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller. The amendment, which will likely be voted on at the April 20 council meeting, will allow alcoholic beverages to be sold and consumed outside the bars. Permission to hold the
Turn to A2
event was requested in February by Joe Wilson, owner of Chesty P’s Bar, 104 E. Mason St. Since then Jeff Grobe, owner of Jeff’s Refs, and Steve Frano, owner of The Polo Room, have joined in the planning. The event will include a 50-50 raffle, food, and entertainment. Several bands, one from Nashville, Tenn., have been lined up to play throughout the afternoon and evening. In February, Wilson estimated that event could draw as many as 1,000 people. Mayor Doug Knapp said Mason Street will be closed from Ill. 26 to Jefferson Ave. for the celebration that is scheduled from 2 p.m. to midnight. Knapp said alcohol will be sold at only one outside location to the north of the
intersection of Mason Street and Franklin Avenue. Bands will be set up to the south of the intersection. Proceeds of the event will go to Dark Horse Lodge, a retreat for military veterans, being built on Kentucky Lake in Paris, Tenn. Puller, who was born on June 26, 1898, was highly decorated for his bravery in World War II and the Korean War. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 19181955, first in the Banana Wars in Central America and the Caribbean, and later in the South Pacific during World War II and in some of the fiercest fighting of the Korean War. Among his many combat decorations are a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, five U.S. Navy Crosses, and a U.S. Army Distinguished Service Cross.
High vote getters weren’t all winners for school bd.
The Polo School Board will have a change in members following Tuesday’s consolidated election. Because of a somehwat confusing state law, the candidates with the highest vote totals did not all win seats on the board. Dave Bucher, who lives in Buffalo Township, is the lone incumbent on the board who did not have to run Tuesday. Matt Mekeel and Jennifer Grobe were voted to the board with 405 and 193 votes respectively to two unexpired two-year terms. They are from Buffalo Township. This makes three Winton Bocker and his grandfather Gary, were busy grilling at the Polo Lions Club’s candidates from Buffalo food booth at the Hazelhurst Sale on April 4. Photo by Earleen Hinton Township on the board.
In This Week’s Edition...
Phillip Peterson defeated incumbent Louise Hall 97 votes to 45, and in Ward 3, incumbent Randy Schoon defeated challenger Jeremy Heller 78 to 52. Both are four-year terms. Huntley said that when the vote margin is close enough, a losing candidate can file a challenge to the results. She said the error occurred because of mistakes made in certifying the candidates for the two races. “It was certified incorrectly to us,” she said. City and village clerks are responsible for certifying candidates who file in their offices to the county clerk. At the Leaf River precinct,
Beer garden is proposed
By Chris Johnson Reporter
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
open position, the glitch led to voter confusion. “It was caught early so we were able to correct the ballot and continue with the election,” Huntley said. The error was discovered about 8 a.m., and she immediately called the State Board of Elections. Following their advice, Huntley said, the “vote for two” was crossed out on each ballot and replaced with “vote for one.” The change was made before a large number of voters had cast their ballots, she said. “I really don’t think more than 10 or 15 ballots had been voted per ward by then,” she said. In Ward 1, newcomer
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B6 Polo Police A3 Public Voice, A9 Property Transfers, B6
Superintendent Chris Rademacher said state law allows no more than three board members from the same congressional township. Congressional townships do not always have the same boundaries are geographical townships. Rademacher said the two-year terms are seated first before the candidates running for four-year terms are seated. For the four-four-year terms, Yancy Webster received the most votes in this race with 443. Webster is from Woosung Township and earned a seat on the board. Michael Ryan earned the third highest votes with 395 and will be on the board because he lives in Lincoln Township. Although he earned the
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A3
second highest vote total with 414, Ron McDermott will not be on the board because he resides in Buffalo Township, and would make one too many from there. Rademacher said the results of the election will need to verified to ensure the correct candidates are on the board. Other vote totals for the two-year term were Shawn Willis with 150, Melissa Mosley with 138, and Kellie O’Leary Call with 103. Brandi Cisketti had 367 votes in the four-year term. There were 489 under votes in the four-year race. Rademacher said because of the residency requirement, the board may need to appoint another member to the board following the election when the candidates are seated.
Deaths, B5 Karen L. Boren, Viola A. Myers, Norma R. Woessner
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com