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POLO
Tri-County Press June 9, 2016 Volume 158, Number 38 - $1.00
Summer Softball
Jury Duty
Festival Friday
Summer softball is underway and Polo took on Forreston Saturday afternoon . B2
Jury information postcards have been mailed to Ogle residents. A3
German Valley Days is set to begin Friday evening with the Little Mr., Miss contest. A10
Council agrees to study sludge beds By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Ken Eubanks, Polo, owns this 1947 Cushman scooter. He purchased the scooter 50 years ago. Photo by Chris Johnson
Classic rides on display in Polo By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Dozens of classic rides were on display in Polo Friday evening during the fifth annual Chandler’s Classic Car Cruise. “Jim Chandler was a pinstriper and was a mentor when I started,” said TJ Graden, organizer of the car cruise at Haldane Custom Paint & Body. “He did a lot of my first tow trucks. He did all the pin striping in the area.”
Chandler passed away in 2010 when he was in his mid 50s. “Chandler helped show me how to paint and I told him I would do something in his honor someday,” said Graden. “He was not about the recognition. He just loved painting.” Every year Graden is impressed by the selection of vehicles that are brought to the show. “We spend all year making cars shine and tonight we get to see all the cars on display,” Turn to A3
Jim Chandler did the pin stripes on this 1985 BMW K100 motorcycle owned by Tim Kyker, Dixon. Photo by Chris Johnson
Funeral services held for murdered business owner
Jim Chandler signature on the BMW K100.
Governor tours Woods Equipment By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner stopped at an Oregon factory Monday afternoon to talk about the importance of manufacturing in Illinois – and to roundly criticize his Democratic opponents for the lack of a balanced state budget. The state has been without
a budget since July 1, the longest lapse in Illinois history, and legislators ended their session June 3 without passing one. “Go, Woods. Go, manufacturing,” Rauner said to Woods Equipment Co. workers. “America is a great nation because we make stuff. We are here to celebrate made in America.” The Republican governor began his visit with a tour
Fork lift operator Rick VanDrew, Polo, shakes the hand of Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner Monday afternoon at Woods Equipment. Photo by Chris Johnson
In This Week’s Edition...
of the factory, where 300 workers make Batwing rotary cutters, dirt-moving and landscaping equipment, and, more recently, log splitters. It has been in Oregon more than 60 years. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers invited Rauner to tour Woods as part of the trade group’s I Make America campaign, a grassroots, bipartisan effort to create more manufacturing jobs nationwide. Jerry Johnson is president of Woods parent company Blount International’s farm, ranch and ag division, and also is on the association’s board. “Having the governor at Woods is exceptionally important,” said Johnson, who led the tour. “It means a lot to the company, but it means more to our team members. They get a chance to meet the governor.” In fact, when forklift operator Rick VanDrew, Polo, pulled over to let the governor’s tour pass, Rauner walked over to shake his hand and thank him for working in manufacturing. He was one
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Marriage Licenses, A4
of several individual workers with whom the governor talked. “Manufacturing is the key to our prosperity in Illinois,’” Rauner said after the tour. “We are going to take on the special interests in Springfield that keep driving taxes through the roof and push companies out of the state. “We are keeping our great companies here in Illinois. When we take these rascals on, I will travel and work for you to bring more companies to Illinois to make things with you. That is what this is about.” When the Legislature adjourned last Friday, members “left town without doing anything,” Rauner said. “They did pass Illinois State Healthy Puppy Day. That is nice. It is nice to have healthy puppies. They passed 400 bills but couldn’t pass a balanced budget. They are failing you.” Without a budget, communities and schools will be the ones hurting the
Polo Police, A2 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
After a lengthy discussion Monday night, the Polo City Council authorized its engineer to move ahead with plans for sludge-drying beds at the new wastewater treatment plant. The council gave engineer Matt Hansen, from Willett, Hofmann & Associates, Dixon, the go-ahead to draw up plans and get more definite cost estimates for drying beds near the new plant on Galena Trail Road. The council considered three options to handle the sludge — continue “wet-hauling,” locate new drying beds on the same site as the old ones next to the old sewer plant, or locate the new beds across the road next to the new plant, which went into service four years ago. The sludge-drying beds are part of a larger plan that includes sanitary sewer replacement and sanitary sewer lining. The projects are being financed mostly by a lowinterest loan and grant from U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. Part of the cost will come from city coffers. Hansen presented information showing the Rural Development budget for the sludge beds at $563,000, while he estimated beds on the old site at $670,000 and on the new
site at $686,000. Alderman Randy Schoon said he is opposed to having the sludge-drying beds at all because they would put the cost over the Rural Development budget. “We can wet-haul forever,” he said. However, Hansen said the costs are preliminary and once the plan for either site is completely developed, the estimated cost could be less and fall within the Rural Development budget. Water and Sewer Department Supervisor Mike Mumford said he recommends sludgedrying beds at the new plant. He agreed that the city could continue to wet-haul the sludge from the sewer plant indefinitely. However, he said the city pays an outside company $25,000 per year to haul the wet sludge to nearby fields. “That means you’re paying to haul mostly water,” Mumford said. If dried, almost pure sludge will go on the fields which is better for the environment, he said. Locating the beds near the new plant will allow for more efficient drying, Mumford said. At the new site the beds would face south and would be in the sun all day, significantly shortening the drying time from the old site which faces east and is partially shaded.
Turn to A2
Social News, A4 Sports, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Weather, A2
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A former Oregon businessman, murdered last week in Loves Park, was remembered by his family and friends June 6. Funeral services for Byron native Joseph Pendergrass, 59, former owner of Jay’s Drive-In, were held Monday afternoon at Heartland Community Church, Rockford. Pendergrass was stabbed in the Advanced Medical Rehabilitation parking lot on Windsor Road in Loves Park around 6:30 p.m. May 31, and later pronounced dead at Rockford Memorial Hospital. Roland Romeo Breault, 52, Rockford, an acquaintance of Pendergrass, was arrested a short time later and is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, according to Winnebago County Court records. He is being held in the Winnebago County Jail on $1 million bond, and a hearing is set for June 30. Pendergrass purchased Jay’s Drive-In, 107 W. Washington St., Oregon, when he was 26 years old and
owned it for more than 20 years. He sold it to his niece, Vicky Wilken, and her husband Joseph Terry in Pendergrass 2006. “Joe had a really dynamic personality and everyone liked him,” Terry Wilken said. “Whenever you are at a large gathering, it seemed like everyone wanted to talk to Joe. You only had a few minutes, but you seemed to want more time.” After the Wilkens took over the drive-in, Pendergrass financed it for a year so they could get the business going, he said. “Those are the things about Joe that people don’t know. He always went above and beyond for the people he loved.” Pendergrass was raised in Byron and graduated from Byron High School in 1975. He currently owned Dusty Boots Saloon & Eatery, Rockford. Jermaine Pigee at Sauk Valley Media contributed to this story.
Deaths, B5 Michael R. Armstrong, Everett W. Cassens, Bill C. Driver, Davy L. Duhigg, Julie M. Lehne
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com