Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO Playoff Bound The Polo Marcos will travel to Dakota Saturday to open the football playoffs at 1 p.m. B1
By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com Awards for distinguished service, recognition of efforts, great food, and cookies fresh from the soonto-open bakery highlighted the 47th annual Village of Progress banquet last week. More than 300 people attended the event, emceed by Tom Wadsworth for the 17th year in a row, on Oct. 19 at St. Mary’s Community Center, Oregon.. For a sweet dessert treat, every place at the tables included a shortbread cookie decorated with The Village Bakery’s logo and slogan “Baking a difference.” The bakery, at the corner of Third and Washington in downtown Oregon, is VOP’s most recent enterprise and is slated to open before the end of this year. Before awards were given
Comprehensive Plan
Halloween will be filled with pumpkins in Illinois. A9
The Oregon Park District is working to update its comprehensive master plan. A7
Heroin abuse is on the rise in Ogle County Editor’s note: This is the first of a 4-part series on the growing use of heroin in Ogle County and how it is affecting governmental agencies, addicts, family members and the political process.
The fire that claimed the lives of a Byron mother and her preschool son last week remains under investigation. Byron Fire Chief Galen Bennett said that he has not yet been notified of the cause of the Oct. 19 fire in the house at 2020 N. Silverthorn Drive, where Maggie Meyer, 31, and her 3-year-old son Amos lived. “As far as I know they’re still investigating,” he said Tuesday morning. Bennett said the investigation is being handled by the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office and
out, Jackie Fransen was recognized as the manager for the new Village Bakery. Fransen has 20 years of experience in food service and has served for 10 years as head of food service at Oregon Living and Rehabilitation Center. She’s also ran her own bakery. The first award given was the John Herrmann Personal Achievement Award, named for Herrmann’s 30 years of service - 24 as village board member, and a foundation board member until his death, which went to consumer Sharon Good. Good spent nine years working at VOP. In 1999, she moved on to work at a local grocery store washing dishes until 2011. She then moved to Springfield to do janitorial Stillman Valley’s Will Glendenning wins the $1,000 duties for a local Hardee’s. Peter Cacciatore Memorial Scholarship Award at In June 2015, she returned the Village of Progress 47th Annual Banquet Oct. 19.
Turn to A6 Sauk Valley Media photos by Philip Marruffo
the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department. The fire was reported around 6:40 a.m., apparently by Meyer’s ex-husband and the boy’s father, Duane C. Meyer, who was there to pick up the youngster. When firefighters arrived, Meyer and a Byron police officer were performing CPR on Amos, who was reportedly in an upstairs bedroom when the fire broke out. The child and his father were taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, where Amos was pronounced dead. Firefighters also could hear smoke alarms going off and encountered heavy smoke when they arrived. Maggie Turn to A3 Maggie Meyer and her son Amos died in a house fire on Oct. 19. Photo supplied
Polo schools are financially above average By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com The Polo Board of Education reviewed their 2016 annual financial audit report, appointed extracurricular staff, and received over $4,500 in grants applied for by teaching staff. During the Oct. 24 school
By Andy Colbert acolbert@oglecounty news.com
Sandra Braddock grasps the Robert Moehle Personal Achievement Award Oct. 19 at the Village of Progress 47th Annual Banquet.
Cause of fatal fire still undetermined By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
October 27, 2016 Volume 159, Number 6 - $1.00
Pumpkin Crop
Several honored during banquet 47th annual VOP Banquet was held at St. Mary’s Oct. 19
Tri-County Press
board meeting, auditor Jerry Funk from WipFli, presented the financial audit for the 2015-16 school year. The audit gives a detailed analysis on financial statements, schedules and statistics, cash receipts and disbursements, and level of compliance from the school board. Funk said the score of 3.65 the district received on its
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estimated financial profile summary was higher than average. The board also approved of two extracurricular staff - Zach Horst for the high school Academic Bowl, and Jeff Sands as the seventh grade girl’s’ basketball coach. Two extracurricular volunteers were appointed as well - Wyatt Patterson and
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Trent Wallace, both for boys’ basketball. The board also received $4,540 in foundation grants. Superintendent Christopher Rademacher expressed his appreciation for the grants - both for the funding, and for the way it gets teachers involved in writing the grants. The board meets again on Nov. 28.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3
The perception of a heroin junkie has changed. The image of society castoffs with needles sticking out of an arm in a back alley is gone. In its place are everyday citizens trying to support an insidious habit. “The stigma of heroin usage has changed,” Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said. “It’s every walk of life and has become a much more serious issue in this county. Besides the crime aspect, it is tearing families apart.” Brooke Plachno has noticed the same thing from her position as Adult Probation Supervisor for the Ogle County Drug Court. Three overdoses resulting in death have occurred since March. “It has grabbed people from all ages, sexes and socioeconomics,” Plachno said. Why has heroin usage transitioned from big cities to rural areas? “It’s become less expensive than prescription drugs and more accessible,” VanVickle said. Heroin is also more powerful than other drugs. It is 2-4 times more potent than morphine and much faster. “It’s frightening how easy it is to get,” Plachno said. “When people can’t get their prescription refills or pills on the street, they go to heroin. We’re not seeing meth or cocaine like we used to.” “Most of the heroin is coming from Rockford,” Chief Deputy Danny White said. Ogle County is a part of the Stateline Area Narcotic Task Force, along with several other area counties and municipalities. “In January of 2015, we put an officer on the task force full time to combat drug usage, taking a regional approach to the problem,” VanVickle said. “That’s how big of a problem it is here.” According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a record high 47,000 people died from drug overdose in 2014, an increase attributed to heroin and opioid painkillers. It is the number one cause of accidental death in the country and its usage had doubled in the last 10 years. In Ogle County, there have
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
been 11 deaths from heroin overdoses in past five years, besides nine other drug deaths. “Sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish because of synthetic drugs,” Ogle County Coroner Lou Finch said. “It’s a bigger problem than it used to be.” Sheriff Brian Earlier VanVickle this year, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act was signed in to law by President Barack Obama. Its purpose is to bolster prevention, treatment and recovery for drug users, but is still waiting for funding. One of the key components of the bill was a provision for naxolone, a drug that first responders can administer in overdose situations. Ogle County is not a part of the network where naxolone is used. At least not yet. “It can be controversial, because the thought is that if we provide it, continued usage is encouraged,” Ogle Health Department Administrator Kyle Auman said. “Data says otherwise. Absolutely, it is a positive. Anything to save a live is a positive.” Auman admits that his department is limited in addressing concerns with heroin and other drugs. “It’s relatively complex, with the need for health care and mental health,” Auman said. “Currently, we have no program for it and lack of funding also hurts. The health department is more focused on day-to-day issues like food inspections, the flu, rabies and chronic diseases.” In Whiteside and Lee Counties, the Safe Passage Initiative allows drug users to surrender dope and be admitted to treatment center instead of jail. A major problem is vast majority do not have insurance, creating financial burdens. However, more than 100 addicts, including some from Ogle County, which does not have the program, have taken advantage of the program over the past year and have a better chance at recovery. “In Ogle County, cannabis and heroin are the two biggest drug problems,” VanVickle said. “Cannabis is a gateway drug to heroin.” Whereas cannabis is more of a recreational drug, heroin is the real down-and-dirty stuff. Turn to A3
Deaths, B4 Rev. William D. Brooks, David W. Churney, Avis Hays, Amos Patrick Meyer, Margaret A. Meyer
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com