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POLO
Tri-County Press December 21, 2017 Volume 159, Number 34 - $1.00
Marcos Fall
Santa Letters
Recycle Time!
The Marcos fall to Sterling Newman at the Forreston Holiday Tournament. B1
Area school children send their wish lists to St. Nick. C1-12
Don’t forget to recycle your electronics on Friday, Dec. 29 in Oregon. B3
Polo family was just minutes from their home when tragedy struck Donations are being sought for Johnson family By Kathleen Schultz kschultz@saukvalley.com Sarah and DJ Johnson and 4-yearold Kylia were just minutes away from their Polo home when they hit a patch of ice in the snowstorm Dec. 11, and slid into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. Sarah and the baby boy she was expecting died as a result, and DJ and Kylia were critically injured. They were on their way back home from a 35-week check-up with their Sterling obstetrician. “Sarah Rose Johnson, only 26 years old and 35 weeks pregnant, was lost to us forever, and Oliver, the baby boy whom Sarah was so proud to bring into the world for DJ, before breathing his first breath and despite the effort of multiple physicians, followed his mother to the golden shores beyond,” her brother-in-law, Robert “Robby” Shaw, wrote in a posting on the GoFundMe site he and the family have established to help DJ, 27, and
Sarah and DJ Johnson and their daughter, Kylia. Photo supplied
Kylia recover. “This fragile, beautiful family was not and could not have been prepared for this tragedy,” Shaw wrote. “With the hard road already ahead, we do not believe that they should be further hindered by funeral and medical expenses out of their reach. Please help us do the little that we can to make their days ahead just a little bit easier.” The Johnsons were northbound on state Ill. 26 around 3:45 p.m.
when DJ lost control of their 2013 Dodge sedan on the icy road and crossed into the southbound lane, where a 2008 GMC pickup driven by Dan Ditzler, 29, also of Polo, hit the sedan’s passenger side. They were three miles south of town. All were taken to KSB Hospital, where Ditzler and three children – girls, ages 5 months and 2 years, and a boy, 5 – were treated for minor injuries. Sarah, who was in the passenger
front seat, was pronounced dead at KSB; DJ and Kylia were transferred to MercyHealth Hospital – Rockton Avenue in Rockford. Despite multiple injuries “DJ is making a beautiful recovery,” Shaw wrote. Kylia, who was in the back seat of the car, “is now courageously recovering from her trauma as we anxiously watch.” Funeral services will be held on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Crossroads Community Church. Polo Family Funeral home is handling arrangements. Go to polofamilyfuneralhome.com for the complete obituary, and to send condolences. According to her obituary, Sarah, who was an assistant manager at Walmart in Freeport, grew up in Lanark and graduated from Eastland High School in 2009. She and DJ were high school sweethearts who met when working at Rolling Hills Progress Center in Lanark. They had just celebrated their seventh anniversary on Dec. 4. They moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, shortly after they were married; that’s where DJ began his military career and Sarah was a manager at the Army and Air Force Exchange Services. They moved
Services Services for Sarah Rose Johnson and her son, Oliver Daniel Michael Johnson, are from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Faith Discovery Church, with the funeral at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Crossroads Community Church. Burial will be in Fairmount Cemetery in Polo, followed by a luncheon at Crossroads. A memorial has been established.
To donate A GoFundMe account has been established to help DJ and Kylia recover. Go to www.gofundme. com and search for the Sarah and Ollie Memorial Fund to donate. back to Illinois in 2013. DJ, whose given name is Daryl Allan Johnson, works at Exelon in Byron, is a volunteer firefighter with the Polo Fire Department and, according to family, a military police officer who served in Afghanistan. To donate, go to www.gofundme. com and search for the Sarah and Ollie Memorial Fund.
Council okays more sewer upgrades By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The Polo City Council approved additional sewer system improvements at its Monday night meeting. Aldermen unanimously approved authorizing Michaels Pipeline Service, Brownsville, Wisconsin, to televise and reline an additional 4,700 feet of sewer mains, replace 12 manholes, and make other needed repairs at three points. Alderman Randy Schoon said that although the additional work will cost the city around $40,000, it will save money in the long run to have the work done while the Michaels crew is already
Feeding the Hungry Coordinated by Faith United Methodist Church, the Polo Community Council of Churches came together for their annual Christmas Food Basket program. Community members packed into Faith Discovery Church to fill 189 baskets with canned peaches, chicken and tomato soup, green beans, peanut butter and jelly, pancake mix, syrup, pork and beans, au gratin potatoes, shells and cheese, canned pears, and bread. Above, Maddox Buskohl, 10, of Dixon, represented the youth in helping to pack up food donation baskets. Below, Calvin Carver, of Dixon, helps arrange the food donation baskets to be picked up by families in the pews of Faith Discovery Church. Photos by Zach Arbogast
The long-debated question of closing one block of a city street for construction of a new Ogle County Jail is finally settled. Both the county board and the Oregon City Council approved an intergovernmental agency agreement Tuesday evening that transfers jurisdiction over the 100 block of South Sixth Street in Oregon from the city to the county.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4 Zoning Permits, B5
Turn to A3
City and county agree on Sixth Street for new jail By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
In This Week’s Edition...
in town. Part of the cost will be covered by grant money and the rest is budgeted, he said. “If we wait and have them come back to do it, it will cost us $75,000 to $100,000 more,” he said. “Having them do this now means 50 percent of the town is done, which is a huge feather in our cap.” Michaels crews have been in Polo for several weeks, and have already televised and relined more than 11,000 feet of sewer mains on Division Avenue (Ill. 26) and in the downtown, replaced manholes, and done other repairs, as part of a $629,856 project paid for with the Rural Development grant and loan money.
This means the county board can move forward with its plans to close the block and connect the new jail to the existing judicial center across the street. The last hurdle will be securing approval to close the block from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The plan, which faced fierce opposition from some Oregon residents including two city commissioners, has been under discussion for more than a year. Turn to A3
Deaths, B5 Donald F. Gallup, Marlene L. Gaul, Jeromy D. Marth, Richard L. Otten
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