Tcp 2017 05 25

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Serving the Polo Area Since 1857

POLO

Tri-County Press May 25, 2017 Volume 159, Number 24 - $1.00

Regional Champs

Sectional Win

Helping Others

The Cardinals baseball team beats Amboy 9-5 to advance to the Le-Win Sectional. B1

Forreston-Polo’s boys track team wins the Oregon Sectional. B1

Local ag organizations are facilitating help to those hit by wildfires. B4

Council approves zoning for county new jail By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The proposed new Ogle County Jail squeaked past one obstacle Tuesday evening when the Oregon City Council approved a rezoning request by a 3-to-2 vote. The council approved the county board’s request to rezone, from single family residential to commercial, five county-owned lots in the 100 block of South Sixth Street,

where the board plans to build a new 180-bed jail. City commissioners Jim Barnes and Tom Izer cast the no votes, while commissioners Kurt Wilson and Terry Schuster and mayor Ken Williams voted yes. However, the biggest hurdle is yet to come on June 27 when the city council considers a second county request to vacate the same block of South Sixth to allow the jail to connect to the judicial center

via a large sally port across where the street is now. That vote will take at least four yes votes for approval. The Oregon Planning Commission recommended both requests by a 4-to-2 vote on May 18. Williams said the request to vacate the street was not considered Tuesday, as it depended on the rezoning. “If this didn’t pass we wouldn’t need the second one,” he said.

“Now we need to see what the jail would look like if the street isn’t vacated.” County board chairman Kim Gouker said he appreciated the council’s vote on the rezoning. “We’re pleased that the council followed the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approved a rezoning request that is in their Comprehensive Plan,” he said. “It was a difficult decision,” Williams said. “I think there were good

arguments on both sides.” In a presentation to the council, Gouker said the new jail has been part of the county’s long-range plan for 17 years. Specifics of the jail plan have been researched for the last two years, he said, “from location to the size and operation.” “The process was completed with the top priority to find a plan that maximizes public safety, Turn to A2

Robbers hit Casey’s store Police are looking for two white masked men who robbed the Casey’s General Store at 120 N. Division Ave. at gunpoint around 4:15 Monday morning. The two Caucasian men – who were wearing bandanas and hoodies, and one of whom was brandishing a handgun – took an undisclosed amount

of cash and fled on foot, Polo Police Chief Kurt Cavanaugh said in a news release. No one was injured. Illinois State Police crime scene investigators are assisting. Anyone with information is asked to call Polo police at 815-946-3912 or Ogle County Crime Stoppers at 888-228-4488.

This image taken from store surveillance footage shows the two men who police say robbed the Casey’s General Store at 120 N. Division Ave., Polo, at gunpoint around 4:15 Sunday morning. Photo supplied

Chilly Champs Chilly weather did not stop the Forreston-Polo boys track team from winning the Oregon Sectional on May 19 and qualifying 10 athletes to compete at the Class 1A state meet in Charleston this week. Above, Mason Wright, left, and Reid Taylor wait for the finals of the triple jump while petting a kitten that a fan brought to the meet at Landers-Loomis Field in Oregon. At right, Brady Webb wraps up in a blanket during competition in the long jump. All three will compete at the state meet in their respective events. Turn to page B1 for a story on the meet. Photos by Earleen Hinton

Memorial Day Parade Service set for May 29 Polo American Legion Post 83 will hold its annual Memorial Day Parade and Service on Monday, May 29. The parade will line up at 9:30 a.m. at Mason and Green Streets. All veterans are welcome

to march. A ride will also be available. The parade will march west on Mason Street, then north on Division Avenue (Ill. 26) to Fairmount Cemetery for the service.

World War II re-enacted at Stronghold By Earleen Hinton ehinton@oglecounty news.com Two of the Andrew Sisters sat in the sunshine at the picnic table chatting softly with U.S. Cavalry Captain Ronald Reagan when suddenly a German motorcade buzzed by on the dirt road and shots rang out. The BMW motorcycle sped ahead with the

German officer calling out commands, nurses ran through the tall grass as they scurried to their field hospital, a tank revved up, spun around in the mud, and started firing at Allied troops to the east. Within seconds the normally peaceful pasturelike field at the Stronghold Camp and Retreat Center was transformed into a battleground in Austria, circa

In This Week’s Edition...

May 5, 1945. The re-enactment, orchestrated and performed by 360-plus members of the World War Two Historical Re-enacting Society, was one of four re-created battles that culminated a week-long celebration of Armed Forces Week. “Germany has been invaded at this point by the Russians, French, Polish, American, and British troops.

Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B8-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6 Marriage Licenses, A4

There is ever increasing small areas of Germany that are still up for resistance. The German military was very disciplined and they still presented a formidable force in opposition to the Allies in this late stage of the war, ” said a German re-enactor as he addressed Sunday’s audience. The inaugural event was Isaiah Akins, age 11, of Polo, checks out spent shell held Saturday and Sunday at casings following the Battle for Castle Itter while his Turn to A8 sister, Bethany, age 6, watches. Photo by Earleen Hinton

Oregon Library, A6 Public Voice, B4 Property Transfers, B6 RRC Activities, A6

Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, A10, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B6

Deaths, B5 Bonnie Jean Daniels, Mark O’Hara, Eugene C. Vogt

Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com


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