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Bring heat for the big game FOOD, A9-10
NEVER TOO EARLY FOR MARCOS MADNESS BOYS HOOPS, B1
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Wednesday, January 28, 2015
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
ASHTON-FRANKLIN CENTER SCHOOL DISTRICT
Middle school’s fate at issue
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Budget deficit leads to consolidation proposal BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
ASHTON – A large deficit in spending over the last couple years has the Ashton-Franklin Center School Board thinking about reorganizing the schools in the district.
The board is looking at relocating students from the middle school to the other two schools in the district, said John Zick, the district’s superintendent. The board met Tuesday to discuss the proposal in front of about 25 staff and community members. MIDDLE SCHOOL CONTINUED ON A2
This is something I never want to do. We have kids that graduated from that school and, at one point, I was employed at that school.
Community forums upcoming The AFC School Board will hold two community forums on the district’s reconfiguration plan. The first one is at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 at AFC High School, 611 Western Ave, Ashton. The second forum will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 at AFC Elementary School, 217 South Elm, Franklin Grove.
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John Zick, AFC superintendent, on the prospect of no more classes being taught at the middle school, the potential result of proposed consolidation
DIXON
ROCK FALLS | TOURISM DISPUTE
Airport an ‘unrealized asset’? Group’s
motion to dismiss granted City to file amended injunction petition BY PAM EGGEMEIER peggemeier@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5570 @pam_eggemeier
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Brian Brown, a member of the Dixon Municipal Airport Board, points on a photograph to where fencing will be installed along state Route 38. The fence will be installed along the north side of the property, part of a Federal Aviation Administration initiative to get fences around American airports.
City eyes Rochelle hub as template for future development BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @MattMencarini
DIXON – The city is eyeing ways to set the airport up as an economic asset in the future. Airport-related items were on the agendas for the two City Council meetings this month. The city approved engineering agreements to add new lights
along the runway and build a fence, and started the process of creating a task force to study airport development. The seven-member task force is expected to be finalized with appointments Feb. 2, the council’s first meeting next month. Its task will be to study other small, rural airports and see how commercial, retail or airportrelated businesses might be attracted, Mayor Jim Burke said.
“We have to look ahead,” he said. “Probably in another 20 years, that airport is going to be very, very important. ... That airport is kind of an unrealized asset.” The developments at Rochelle’s airport in the past few years got Burke thinking about ways to improve Dixon’s.
MORRISON – The legal battle between the city of Rock Falls and its Convention and Visitors Bureau will go on a while longer. On Tuesday, Judge John Hauptman granted the bureau’s motion to dismiss the city’s request for an injunction that would have prohibited the Rock Falls Tourism Board from spending money in its reserves and compelled its return to the city. The judge gave the city 21 days to file an amended petition. “I have to agree the pleadings don’t set forth the injunction elements,” Hauptman said. “I think there can be more specificity in the plea.” The next hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 23 at the Whiteside County Courthouse in Sterling. The city filed the petition Dec. 5 in Whiteside County Court. The CVB asked the court to dismiss it because it lacked an underlying cause for the injunction. DISMISS CONTINUED ON A4
AIRPORT CONTINUED ON A5
INSIDE
ILLINOIS | UNION FEES
‘Right-to-work zones’ a 1st-year priority Governor: Depressed communities need flexibility to attract businesses BY KERRY LESTER The Associated Press @kerrylester
DECATUR (AP) – Gov. Bruce Rauner said Tuesday he wants to prioritize creating “right-towork zones” in economically depressed areas where local officials could decide whether union fees would be voluntary for local workers.
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TODAY’S EDITION: 28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 189
The new Republican governor insisted he wasn’t pushing for a statewide law like GOP-backed statutes fiercely opposed by Democrats in other states. But he said some communities in unionfriendly Illinois could benefit from the flexibility to attract businesses. “The states that are already growing don’t force unionization into their economy,” Rauner told an
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ......... A14 COMICS ............. A12
audience at Richland Community College in Decatur, a city he said could benefit from such a plan. “I’m not advocating Illinois becoming a right-to-work state, but I do advocate [for] local governments being allowed to decide whether they’re right-towork zones,” he said. WORK CONTINUED ON A4
CROSSWORD....B12 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
Grand Marshals named Bruce Rauner Governor spoke Tuesday at Decatur community college
NATION/WORLD A13 OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6
The Shamrock Club in Dixon sashed its Grand Marshals for the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day parade, and honored their son in the process. More on A2
Today’s weather High 38. Low 33. More on A3.
Crawling?
Caterpillar takes 4th-quarter hit, A3.
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