Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
BANTER HELPS HAWKS OVERPOWER TIGERS
News, events, and more
BOYS BASKETBALL, B1
PAGES A9-11
TELEGRAPH
Thursday, January 14, 2016
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
DIXON PARK DISTRICT
One road will end up helping another one Park Board votes to hold street market/fundraiser to help fix deteriorating road in Lowell Park BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
DIXON – The Dixon Park Board is having one for the road – a fundraiser, that is, and anyone who attends and spends will be helping pay for badly needed repairs in
one of Lee County’s most popular parks. The Dixon Park Board Wednesday voted to approve a fundraising event for June 11 to help pay for repairs to a portion of Lowell Park Road. The fundraiser, which will take place at Vaile Park and along Custer Avenue in Dixon, will include flea markets, antique
shows, a sports memorabilia show, and water activities. “We can close Custer between First and Third and line that road with vendors,” said Deb Carey, the district’s executive director. “You’d then have a street market.” Carey hopes to raise at least $91,000
during the fundraiser, which would fix the portion of the road going into Lowell Park. In December, the board decided not to pursue a referendum to raise property taxes in Dixon, money that could have gone to repair the road. PARK BOARD CONTINUED ON A5
OREGON
ROCK FALLS | FATAL FIRE
Family tragedy Brutal blaze robs family of parents and 3 children, and leaves surviving siblings in mourning
Success can stem from failures Educators raise the ceiling – and the bar – on learning BY CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN cheimerman@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5523 @CHeimerman_SVM
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
A Sterling firefighter surveys the aftermath of a fire Wednesday that claimed the lives of five family members at 414 Second Ave. in Rock Falls. Read this story at saukvalley.com to see more photos. BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ AND PAM EGGEMEIER 815-625-3600, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10, @pam_eggemeier
ROCK FALLS – Five family members – a mother, father and three of their five children – are dead after a fire that began on the first floor of their home at 414 Second Ave. around 5 a.m. Wednesday. Dead are Patrick Hopkins, 61, who worked at Allied Locke in
Dixon; his wife, Mary (Adams) Hopkins, 49, who worked at Kelley’s Market Mobil gas station in Sterling; their daughter Maggie, 26, who worked at the Sterling Wal-Mart; son Donovan, 16, a Newman Central Catholic High School sophomore and athlete; and daughter Katie Jo, 13, a seventh-grader at St. Andrew’s Catholic School in Rock Falls. FIRE CONTINUED ON A7
Inside
Wednesday’s fire not only took a family’s loved ones, but it took students’ friends, too: A7 Want to help the Hopkins? Funds have been set up: A7 Service and visitation times for the Hopkins family: A4
OREGON – First-grade teacher Ryan Huell knows not every child can afford to go to the museum. So he and his colleagues are bringing the museum to Oregon Elementary School, in the form of the Northern Illinois University STEM Outreach Program. STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math, and those concepts will be on display in all their glory March 18 at the elementary school. The NIU program’s goal is to generate interest and excitement through presentations and hands-on experiences. Huell, 27, a fourth-year teacher in the school, already has been implementing STEM concepts in his classroom that encourage students’ creativity, collaboration, and enterprising spirit. “In the past, you might have seen students who Ryan Huell were afraid to fail,” he said. “The quality of the debate has taken off. And kids know that if they fail at something, it’s OK. They’ll explore the problem.” He and his first-grade colleagues wrote the grant application that brought in $2,000 – $1,000 from Exelon Corp., $500 from the Oregon School Foundation and $500 from an anonymous donor – to bring NIU’s Exploration Lab to town. NIU will send a few staffers to conduct demonstrations and projects, and Oregon volunteers and high school staff will also help. STEM CONTINUED ON A5
MORRISON
Park finds itself between a Rock and a hard place City seeks public input to help a park that’s fallen out of favor due to changing times and a pesky creek BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 815-625-3600, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
MORRISON – Green acres on the city’s southwest side used to be the place to be for residents’ recreation needs, but changing times and Mother Nature have conspired to relegate a piece of
$1.00
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 164 ISSUE 180
the community’s history to a place where fewer people are strolling through the park. City leaders would like to change that, and they’re hoping the public can help. Officials plan to solicit input from residents as they consider the future use about 17.5 acres near West Winfield Street, of
INDEX
which 12.4 acres is Waterworks Park. In addition to a wealth of open green space, the park has a baseball diamond, playground, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, and a picnic area City leaders are concerned that several factors have left the once-bustling area highly underutilized.
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A12 COMICS ...............B6
CROSSWORD....B12 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
“Thirty to 40 years ago, this used to be a popular area for family events, but over time, the [Rock] Creek flooded more frequently, and the city invested less in the area,” City Administrator Barry Dykhuizen said. The creek’s propensity for spilling over, however, isn’t the
PLANIT ............A9-11 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
only dynamic at play. The Morrison Sports Complex opened in 2010, taking most of the baseball-related traffic to the 35-acre facility on the east side of town. As is the case in many Midwest towns, the use of tennis courts has gradually declined. GREEN SPACE CONTINUED ON A5
Today’s weather High 39. Low 29. More on A3.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-284-2224
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B8.