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Wednesday, February 5, 2014
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
WEATHER | DEEP FREEZE
STERLING
Man dies in duplex fire
Snowiest winter on record? In the Sauk Valley, this one isn’t close ... not yet, at least BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 521
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
ABOVE: Sterling Fire stands by Tuesday morning as State Fire Marshal Arson Investigator Kenny Arnold and K-9 Dollar come out of a burned-out home on West Seventh Street. The body of a yet-to-be-identified man was found on the second floor of the abandoned three-story duplex. BELOW: Firefighters are seen on the porch of the duplex. The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the fire’s cause.
Neighbors: Homeless person was living in house BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
STERLING – The body of a man was found early Tuesday morning after a fire in an abandoned duplex in Sterling. Firefighters responded to the fire shortly after 3:30 a.m. at 204 W. Seventh St., just blocks away from the main fire station. The man has not been identified. Deputy Fire Chief Mike Dettman said the man in the building was believed to be homeless. No utilities were connected to the house. It took about 40 minutes to control the fire, Dettman said. “It was stubborn,” he said. The state fire marshal’s office is investigating the fire’s cause. Maci Garcia, 21, who lives near the building, said the duplex had been abandoned for about a year. She said her father had mentioned that a
homeless man had been living there. “My cousins used to live on that side of the house,” she said, referring to the portion where most of the fire damage appeared to have occurred. The man’s body was found on the second floor of the threestory white house, Sterling police Lt. Doug Fargher said. Authorities expected to identify the man soon, Fargher said. “We have our suspicions,” he said. The duplex is believed to be in foreclosure or some other type of litigation, Fargher said. Officials, he said, will look at all possibilities on the fire’s cause, including whether the man started a fire to keep warm. This was the fifth structure fire to which local firefighters have responded in the past week, Dettman said.
Snowiest years to date 1. 1975-1976, 69.7 inches 2. 1979-1980, 64.0 inches 3. 1960-1961, 61.5 inches 4. 1997-1998, 59.1 inches 5. 1972-1973, 54.1 inches 6. 2008-2009, 51.5 inches 7. 1912-1913, 51.4 inches 8. 1970-1971, 51.2 inches 9. 1926-1927, 49.3 inches 10. 1962-1963, 47.9 inches Note: These are the snowfall totals in Moline; the National Weather Service doesn’t keep historical records for the Sauk Valley.
FIRE CONTINUED ON A2
STERLING
BE LIKE MIKE
A farewell card from Hallmark Longtime store at Northland Mall will close its doors Feb. 16 BY DAVID GIULIANI dgiuliani@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 525
STERLING – Sterling will soon get its final Hallmark moment. On Feb. 16, Kirlin’s Hallmark will close after four decades at Northland Mall. Its parent company, Quincybased Kirlin’s Inc., also is shutting down stores in Elk Grove and Akron, Ohio.
$1.00
STERLING – Think this area has had an unusually large amount of snow this year? You’re right. Think it’s near-record-breaking? Not even close. According to the National Weather Service, the SterlingRock Falls area has seen, as of midday Tuesday, 37 inches of snow this season. While the meteorologists at the National Weather Service don’t keep historical records of snowfall in the Sauk Valley, they do in Moline, where there’s been 36.4 inches so far. And those records say that, so far, the snowfall in Moline is 15.8 inches above normal. But for as much snow as we’ve had, it doesn’t even come close to the 1975-76 snow season, which holds the record with 69.7 inches of the white stuff. To even make it on the list of top 10 snowiest winters, this area would need to see more than 47.9 inches, a record set during the 1962-63 snow season. But with the rest of February and all of spring left to cement our place, and 3 to 4 inches already forecast to fall by noon today, we’ve got a pretty good shot. So far, we’re not too far behind Anchorage, Alaska, which has had 43.5 inches – 7.2 inches less than normal.
TODAY’S EDITION: 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 195
The local Hallmark, which employs 13 people, used to be at the west end of the mall, but moved to its current eastside spot in 1998. Jean Deets has worked at the store since 1976, and became its manager in 1985. She stepped down in 2009, working part time ever since.
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When I started, you could hardly walk down the mall on Friday nights, because there were so many people.
INDEX
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Jean Deets, local Hallmark employee since 1976
HALLMARK CONTINUED ON A4
BUSINESS ......... A11 COMICS ...............B6 CROSSWORD....B12
The statue of Bulls great Michael Jordan outside the United Center in Chicago will soon have a tie to the Dixon riverfront. Find out why in SVM reporter Matt Mencarini’s latest Dateline Dixon column on A3.
DEAR ABBY ......... A8 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1
AP
Today’s weather High 15. Low -10. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B7.
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