Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO
Tri-County Press December 11, 2014 Volume 157, Number 12 - $1.00
Season Preview
Tournaments
Missing Files
The Polo-Forreston wrestling team has the talent to grow throughout the season. B1
Annual holiday tournaments start in Polo and Forreston A12, B2
Sheriff’s department files relating to the Ogle County Tow Fund are missing A8
Man charged after fleeing from police By Vinde Wells Editor
A 20-year-old Polo man was charged with reckless driving Monday evening after he fled from a routine traffic stop in Polo earlier in the day and ended up in a Dixon shopping mall. The man was taken to the Ogle County Jail after he was released from KSB Hospital, Dixon, at 8:21 p.m. Polo Police Chief Dennis Christen said Tuesday morning. After being taken into custody at 3:11 p.m. by Lee County deputies at Tractor Supply, 1810 S. Galena Ave., the man was transported to the hospital for a suicide evaluation, Christen said. The situation began early Monday afternoon when Christen attempted to stop the car the man was driving for speeding and reckless driving. Instead of stopping, Christen said the man drove out of town. Christen said he lost sight of the car due to the fog and excessive speed, but a motorist reported seeing the car south of town. According to a police report released by Christen, the car was clocked doing 68 mph in a 35 mph zone in Polo and also passed one car on the right at an intersection and another on the left with
traffic approaching head-on. The report said the man was apparently upset and had made suicidal threats. He was believed to be in possession of one or more knives. The man posted Facebook messages indicating he was disappointed that the Polo Police would not give pursuit because he was trying to get them to chase him so that he could crash his car into a pole. The man returned to Polo and continued to drive recklessly at high speeds and disobeyed several stop signs, the report said. An attempt to spike his tires was thwarted when he backed away from the stop sticks. “We tried to get close to him but he wouldn’t let us,” Christen said. “It was never a pursuit. At one point the man abandoned his car on the Joseph Stengel Trail south of Judson Road and went on foot to Ill. 26 south of the Polo Animal Hospital. Because a passerby reported he had an open knife in his hand, police advised the veterinary clinic to lock its doors. Police could not locate the man, but another passerby reported he had returned to his car.
Sounds of Christmas The annual Christmas Concert was held Dec. 3 at the Polo High School Gym. Performing were the Aplington Middle School Choir, High School Choir, middle school band and high school band. Above, the middle school choir sings “Deck the Halls.” At right, sixth graders Emma McCawley, Peyton Knight sing during the performance. Photos by Chris Johnson
Turn to A2
Rainy weather dampens profit for auction By Vinde Wells Editor
A steady, chilly drizzle dampened the profits Monday afternoon for an Oregon restaurant’s going out of business auction. Andy Reigel, owner of Jackass BBQ, 501 W. Washington St., called the monetary results of the auction “pretty bad” and blamed it on the rainy weather. He said the kitchen equipment brought especially low prices. Last month Riegel announced his plans to close for economic reasons. He said he hopes to find a bar interested in having him provide food for its patrons. Plans will be updated on his Facebook page, he said. The building where Jackass BBQ was located is owned by Ogle County, and Riegel had a lease until June of 2015 with an option to extend it for another year. Riegel was already leasing the building when the county bought the property in 2013 from John Spoor for $150,000.
According to the terms of his lease, Riegel was to pay the amount of the real estate taxes on the property as his rent. The annual real estate tax bill was approximately $3,100. Riegel has not yet paid the second installment of real estate taxes and said he hopes the proceeds of the auction will be enough to cover it. County treasurer John Coffman said the amount owed is approximately $1,800 including the interest and late fees. The second installment was due on Sept. 5. County board chairman Kim Gouker, Byron, said as a government body, county officials could have had the property taken off the real estate tax rolls, but decided to let it remain to allow other government bodies, such as the City of Oregon and Oregon School District, to continue to receive tax revenue from it. “We’re still hopeful of getting that money [for the taxes],” Gouker said Tuesday. “We’ll
Statue is wrapped for the winter By Vinde Wells Editor
Oregon’s most wellknown landmark is finally all wrapped up and ready for whatever Old Man Winter has to offer. Looking almost like a giant Christmas present minus the bow, the Black Hawk Statue is completely covered with dark green plastic mesh that will protect it from snow and ice until repairs can begin in the spring. Project conservator Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski and his crew first built scaffold completely around the 50foot concrete landmark in late November, then put a wooden roof over the top, and finally enclosed it all with the protective mesh late last week. Created by sculptor Lorado Taft in 1910 as a tribute to all Native Americans, the statue draws thousands of visitors each year. It was unveiled Turn to A2 and dedicated in 1911.
In This Week’s Edition...
Business Brief, B4 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B9-B14 Entertainment, A11 Fines, B7
Dajnowski is heading up a team that will return in the spring to repair the damage done to the statue by time and weather. Testing and evaluations done in the last year and a half showed that three areas of the statue are in dire need of repairs. The critical areas are the folded arms of the statue, especially the elbows and underneath the arms; the middle of the robe; and the vertical fold in the robe from armpit to toe. The areas are spalled, meaning chunks of concrete have already fallen out, and delineated, meaning areas of concrete are loose and ready to fall. Dajnowski and experts from Thornton Tomasetti, Chicago, an architectural firm that provides engineering design, investigation, and analysis services to clients worldwide, took numerous
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Polo Police, A2 Public Voice, A10 Property Transfers, B4
No, this is not the world’s biggest Christmas present. It is a wrapped piece of history. Visitors traveling through Oregon will be unable to see Lorado Taft’s Black Hawk statue now that a protective wrap surrounds the sculpture and scaffolding. Restoration efforts to repair Turn to A2 the statue will be completed next year on the 103-yearold concrete sculpture. Photo by Chris Johnson
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, A12, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning, B7
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
Deaths, B3 Charles E. Diehl, Nadine M. Ross